Sela Tunnel is an under-construction road tunnel at which will ensure all-weather connectivity between

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

and

Tawang Tawang is a town and administrative headquarter of Tawang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The town was once the capital of the Tawang Tract, which is now divided into the Tawang district and the West Kameng district. Tawang c ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

. The tunnel is being excavated below the Sela Pass in India on NH 13 component of

Trans-Arunachal Highway The Trans-Arunachal Highway (TAH), which includes an existing route comprising NH-13 () and parts of NH-15 (), NH-215 () and SH-25, is an under-construction 2-lane more than long highway passing through 16 districts in Arunachal Pradesh sta ...

system. It will be connected with NH 13 by a new 12.4 km road and will reduce the distance between

Dirang Dirang is a village in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. West Kameng is the name of the district that contains village Dirang. Dirang is one of the 60 constituencies of Legislative Assembly of Arunachal Pradesh. Name of current MLA (August ...

and Tawang by 10 km. It has a 3-year target completion date of February 2022 after the construction commenced in 2019. The tunnel will provide access to Tawang by an all-weather road in the western region of Arunachal Pradesh throughout the year. The project provides for two tunnels of 1,790 m and 475 m lengths and an escape tube of 980 m. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh witnessed the breakthrough of Sela Tunnel in the Month of Sep 2021 and Dedicated it to the Nation. It was a Mile stone for BRO and commitment towards connecting even the remotest part of the Nation.

Location

The Sela Tunnel cuts through the Sela–Charbela ridge, which separates the

Tawang district Tawang district (Pron:/tɑ:ˈwæŋ or təˈwæŋ/) is the smallest of the 26 administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India. With a population of 49,977, it is the eighth least populous district in the country (out of ...

from the

West Kameng district West Kameng (pronounced ) is a district of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. It accounts for 8.86% of the total area of the state. The name is derived from the Kameng river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, that flows through the district ...

( Dirang Circle). It is located a few kilometres to the west of the Sela Pass. The tunnel runs at an elevation of , in contrast to the Sela Pass at . It avoids the winter snowfalls on the Sela Pass in addition to cutting down the travel time to Tawang by an hour. The project in fact involves two tunnels. The first tunnel, long, cuts through a longitudinal ridge entering it at . After emerging, a second tunnel, long, runs through the main Sela–Chabrela ridge at . The two tunnels together bypass the Sela Pass and maintain an elevation of 3000 m.Sela tunnel: All-weather road brings Indian troops to China's doorstep; what you need to know
Firstpost 14 October 2021.

Strategic importance

This strategic tunnel is being constructed by the

Border Roads Organisation The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is a road construction executive force in India that provides support to and is now a part of the Indian Armed Forces. BRO develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighboring ...

(BRO) under Project Vartak. It will enhance

Indian military The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by th ...

's capabilities in combating the threat of China's

Western Theater Command The Western Theater Command ()is one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army, founded on 1 February 2016. Its jurisdiction includes Sichuan, Tibet, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Chongqing. Guizhou ...

opposite India's eastern sector of

Line of Actual Control The Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the context of the Sino-Indian border dispute, is a notional demarcation lineAnanth KrishnanLine of Actual Control , India-China: the line of actual contest, 13 June 2020: "In contrast, the alignment o ...

. It will cut the travel time from the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

's IV Corps headquarter at

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...

to Tawang by at least 10 km or 1 hour and also help make the NH13 an all-weather road to access Tawang which usually gets disconnected during winter. The tunnels would ensure that the 171 km road between

Bomdila Bomdila is the headquarters of West Kameng district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. Bomdila is one of the 60 constituencies of the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Geography and Climate Bomdila is located at . It has an average elevati ...

and Tawang remains accessible in all weather conditions. The BRO is also improving the road from

Sangestar Tso The Sangestar Tso, formerly called Shonga-tser Lake and popularly known as the Madhuri Lake, is located on the way from Tawang to Bum La Pass in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh, near Indo-China border above above sea level.

(north of Tawang) to

Bum La Pass The Bum La Pass is a border pass between China's Tsona County in Tibet and India's Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh. It is 37 km away from the town of Tawang in India's Tawang district and 43 km from the town of Tsona Dzong in C ...

on India-China

(disputed parts of

McMahon Line The McMahon Line is the boundary between Tibet and British India as agreed in the maps and notes exchanged by the respective plenipotentiaries on 24–25 March 1914 at Delhi, as part of the 1914 Simla Convention. The line delimited the resp ...

). NH13 has been converted to 2-lane road. Sela pass is located at 4,200 m but the two tunnels are located at the height of 3,000 m (10,000 feet). The tunnel cuts through Sela-Chabrela ridge. A new greenfield road 12.37 km long from the tunnel will meet the existing Balipara-Chaudur-Tawang road on the Nurarang side and the hairpin bends to the Sela Pass will be avoided. The tunnel constructed using the latest New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) is much below the snow line allowing all weather travel without the challenges of snow clearance. The tunnel will add to the tourist potential of Tawang and attract more tourists making Tawang a more popular destination in North East region.

Status updates

* February 2018: Project announced in 2018-19

union budget The Union Budget of India, also referred to as the ''Annual Financial Statement'' in Article 112 of the Constitution of India, is the annual budget of the Republic of India. The Government presents it on the first day of February so that it coul ...

.Sela pass tunnel
The Economic Times, 1 February 2018. * February 2019: Foundation stone laid by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

. Tunnel to be ready in three years by February 2022.Sela tunnel construction to start soon
Business Standard, 21 Nov 2018. * September 2019: Construction of approach road was ongoing and tunnel boring commenced by month end. * September 2020: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister

Pema Khandu Pema Khandu (born 21 August 1979) is an Indian politician and the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh. He is son of former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Dorjee Khandu. Since assuming office of chief minister in July 2016, he and his govern ...

, inspected the progress of the work on 4 September 2020 and said that "''Happy to notice the work progress, all work will be completed by end of 2021.''" * July 2021: Excavation of the 980 m escape tube was completed in July 2021.Last blast of Sela Tunnel’s escape tube conducted by DG Border Roads through video conferencing
Ministry of Defence Press release, 22 July 2022. This will facilitate faster completion of Sela Tunnel by undertaking simultaneous activities in two-way tube of 1,555 m besides 8.8 km of approach roads.

References

{{reflist, 2 Road tunnels in Arunachal Pradesh Proposed road infrastructure in India Buildings and structures under construction in India Tawang district West Kameng district

Location

Strategic importance

Status updates

See also

References