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00:00🎵Joy to the World by JP De Ovando🎵
00:30🎵Joy to the World by JP De Ovando🎵
01:00🎵Joy to the World by JP De Ovando🎵
01:07🎵Joy to the World by JP De Ovando🎵
01:09As you are aware, the Sira Tunnel at 13,000 feet
01:12stands as India's longest bi-lane tunnel.
01:15This tunnel was conceived with the aim of providing all weather connectivity
01:19to the army and the security forces into the vital area of Tawang
01:24as also to enhance the socio-economic development of this region.
01:28With this aim in mind, the foundation stone for this tunnel
01:31was laid by the Honorable Prime Minister in February of 2019.
01:35And after five years, this same tunnel was inaugurated
01:39by the Prime Minister in March of 2024.
01:42Given the conditions under which this tunnel was made
01:45in terms of the terrain, the height, altitude and the weather conditions,
01:48I think this has been a milestone project,
01:50not just for Border Roads to deliver this project in time,
01:53but also to give this connectivity to the population
01:56and the armed forces for Tawang.
01:59Coming to its importance, as I have already elaborated,
02:02besides the fact that it enables the army and the security forces
02:06to move seamlessly in all weather conditions for deployment and logistics,
02:11this tunnel has provided significant advantage to the people of Tawang.
02:16We are aware that earlier they had to travel over the Sera Pass
02:19and the road leading up to Sera Pass for reasons of terrain
02:22was severely constricted and there were very few passing places.
02:25Also, because it received so much of snowfall every year,
02:28there were periods of disruption in this connectivity.
02:31And this used to cause a lot of inconvenience to the population of Tawang.
02:36This, with the snowfall having happened this year,
02:40so far and I am certain that in the years to come,
02:45this drawback or the disadvantage which was there earlier
02:49because of moving up to Sera Pass has been totally taken off by the coming of this tunnel.
02:54So, the people are able to move seamlessly through this tunnel
02:57and even today about 600 to 700 vehicles transit through this tunnel on a daily basis.
03:03Not only are the locals using this tunnel,
03:05but a lot of tourism is now as a result coming into Tawang sector.
03:10And this I am sure is enhancing the economic development of this vital sector.
03:15Oh yes, this tunnel because of the timeline in which it has been constructed,
03:19the resources which have been employed,
03:21has been acknowledged at the international level and in the national level by various agencies.
03:28So, it helped to do this especially for the security forces, all the armed forces
03:34and all the security forces who were suffering during this season.
03:38See earlier, as I have mentioned earlier, we had to transit through the Sera Pass
03:44and given the heavy volume of vehicles, both in terms of their load carrying capacity
03:49and the size of the vehicles, it was a one-way movement going up to Sera Pass even for the army.
03:54And given the strategic importance of Tawang,
03:57it was a requirement to maintain continuous traffic
04:01and the aim was to allow the army to move all their vehicles in the shortest possible time
04:07to these forward locations, both in terms of troop deployment and logistics.
04:11With this tunnel having come in, that aim has been achieved to a very, very large extent.