Science for a Self-Reliant India 'Sela Tunnel Project' - Making the Impossible Possible (E)
Roads and infrastructures like bridges and tunnels are harbingers for economic development and bring important economic and social benefits. They are of vital importance for a nation to grow, develop, protect and indeed become Atmanirbhar. For a country as large as India with massive border areas from deserts to high mountains, roads are the lifelines to remote parts of the country. In this episode, your India Science team travels through the state of Arunachal Pradesh with the Border Roads organisation (BRO) and its engineers on the crucial Balipara-Chardwar Tawang Road or BCT, which connects the hinterland to the border areas of Tibet and China. One of the most challenging’s parts of the BCT highway, as it travels through the steep Himalayan mountains, is the Sela Pass at over 13700 feet. Sela pass receives heavy snowfall during winters, sometimes so intense that the roads get blocked for days cutting off access to Tawang and other border areas of India. In this episode we bring you exclusive access to the Sela Tunnel Project being excavated and built at over 13000 feet and show you how the BRO is leveraging scientific planning, using new technologies and materials to construct these strategic all-weather tunnels in cold and frigid conditions. We are the first channel to travel deep inside the Sela tunnel and even witness a deafening controlled blast with an explosive load of 300 KG’s nearly a kilometer inside the tunnel. These initiatives are part of Atmanirbhar Bharat and specifically the Bharatmala Pariyojana of the Government of India under which over 34000 KMs of roads are being built to socially and economically empower India. Watch this breath-taking and exciting episode on how science and engineering are playing a crucial role in empowering the nation in Science for a Self Reliant India.
