Manali. The construction of the all-weather 9.2 km Atal Tunnel, the highest in the Himalayas at 3,100 metres that connects the Northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh with the centrally-administered Ladakh region and cuts travel time for civilian and military traffic by four to five hours, should be made a global case study on how such mammoth projects are executed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on October 3.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi being received by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (right) and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur on his arrival in Manali to inaugurate the Atal Tunnel on October 3.
All those who had been involved in the 10-year project, from the engineers to the labourers, should also pen down their thoughts so that these could be compiled for the benefit of future generations, Modi said in his inaugural speech.
The External Affairs Ministry should invite global universities to conduct case studies so that “our strength should be recognised”, he said, adding: “Our strength should be known to the world. Despite limited resources, the world should know (what) the present generation can do.”
All those associated with the project should also commit their thoughts to paper for posterity.
“Tunnel work in itself is unique in terms of engineering, in terms of work culture. Since its designing work began in the last several years…you can be a laborer and also be a top person”, write down “your own experience of the work…in your language. If 1,500 people will write (about) the whole effort, when what happened, how it happened, there will be a documentation that will have a human touch.
“What did he think, when he was in trouble, what did he think? (It will be) a good documentation, I am not saying (an) academic documentation…(a) documentation that contains human touch…Some days the food may not have arrived,” and yet the work went on, Modi said.
“I would like at least 1,500 people, working at every level, (to write) five pages, six pages, 10 pages, write (your) experience. Give (the) responsibility (for compilation) to any one person, then fine-tune the language and make it better by documenting it. There is no need to print it, even if you make it digital, it will work,” Modi said.
Technical and engineering related-universities should also prepare case studies for their students. Every year, a batch of eight-ten students should be brought to the site to explain the challenges that came up and how they were surmounted. Engineering knowledge of tunnel (construction) should be available to the students of our country”, Modi said.
“And that’s why I would like the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Education, MEA, BRO (Border Roads Organisation), all together to become a part of education in a continuous way, for tunnel work,” the Prime Minister said.
This will provide a “whole new generation” with the wherewithal of the infrastructure required for tunnel building. This tunnel can also do the job of making our best engineers and we should work in that direction too,” he said.
No comments
Post a Comment