Work on Rohtang tunnel temporarily halted

SHIMLA: The construction work on Rohtang tunnel in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district has been temporarily suspended after a portion of it collapsed two days ago, a Border Roads Organisation official said here today.

"A small portion of the tunnel alignment towards north portal was damaged on October 17. Consequently, the exvaction work was suspended," he said.

However, the work on north portal which lies towards Lahaul and Spiti -- the south one is towards Dhundi near Manali -- has not been affected, the official said.

Around 30-mt of the tunnel rooftop broke down and more than 12 employees were working when the incident happened.

"As a precautionary measure the digging work has been temporarily stopped," the BRO official said.

The BRO has been tasked with the construction of the 8.8-km Rohtang tunnel that lies beneath the 3,978-mt Rohtang Pass.

Over 350 BRO personnel and 24 experts from Germany and Austria are working round the clock to meet the February 2015 deadline.

Of the total length of the horse-shoe shaped tunnel, excavations in 4-km have been carried out since work commenced in June 2010, the BRO official said.