Shimla, March 7 : By ensuring round-the-year road connectivity via newly opened 9.2-km long horseshoe-shaped single-tube Atal Tunnel — one of Indias strategically most important infrastructure projects beneath the majestic Rohtang Pass — towards the landlocked Lahaul Valley in Himachal Pradesh, the state government now aims to develop it as an eco-tourism hub, officials said on Sunday.Earlier, 20,000 people of Lahaul in Lahaul-Spiti district remained cut off from the rest of the country every winter.
The opening of the tunnel on October 3 last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought the picturesque valley close to the rest of the world.
Missing no opportunity to tab its tourism potential, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in the budget proposals for 2021-22 announced that a tourist information centre and art, culture and adventure sport centre will be set up at Sissu, located on the Manali-Leh highway.
Also, the Chief Minister proposed to develop wayside amenities in Udaipur, Jispa and Kaza.
For promoting skiing, a new site in the Lahaul Valley will be developed.Also a skating rink is expected to come up there.
In the Spiti Valley, all facilities will be provided to promote ice hockey.
Thakur announced that youth of the district would be trained for self-employment in tourism along with upgrading an indoor stadium in Kaza as high-altitude mountain training centre.
This year, as per the budget speech, the national tribal festival will be organized in Lahaul in August.
The strategic Atal Tunnel, constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), a wing of the Defence Ministry, in collaboration with Afcons, a joint venture with Strabag AG, under the 3,978 metre Rohtang Pass in the Pir Panjal range, has been a new tourist attraction since its inauguration.
The Atal Tunnel, which has shortened the distance between Manali and Keylong, the headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti, by 46 km, reducing the travel time by nearly three hours.
The tunnel has also ensured all-weather connectivity to Lahaul.
Before the tunnel construction, the Rohtang Pass was the only gateway between Lahaul and Manali.The pass normally remained closed for five months every winter owing to heavy snowfall.
Travel agents told IANS a large chunk of tourists bound for Manali prefer a visit to villages located in Lahaul with the opening of the Atal Tunnel.
Suman Thakur, the panchayat head of Sissu in Lahaul-Spiti district, said the region has seen a sudden influx of tourists with the opening of the tunnel.
With a maximum speed limit of 80 km per hour, the tunnel is capable of taking traffic of 3,000 cars and 1,500 trucks per day
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