Arunachal's Sela tunnel to be inaugurated after safety audit

The strategic Sela Tunnel Project, which is set to provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, will be inaugurated only after a third-party safety audit, a BRO official said. The audit is expected to be completed by mid-February this year, following which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the tunnel, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Additional Director General (East) P K H Singh said in an interview with PTI. The construction work for the tunnel, situated at an elevation of 13,000 feet, is nearing completion, while physical and environmental audits, already provisioned in the contract, have been conducted and positive results have been received, he said. Following the Silkyara tunnel incident in Uttarakhand, however, the BRO DG had ordered a third-party audit of the Sela tunnel as it is strategically important due to its proximity to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Singh said. The tunnel, located near Sela Pass, was necessitated as the Balipara-Charidwar-Tawang Road remains closed for an extended period due to snowfall and landslides caused by heavy rainfall, he pointed out.