NHAI reluctant to take over tunnel's maintenance: HP CM

The Larji-Aut traffic tunnel on Manali national highway was plagued with seepage and leakage of water but the National Highway Authority of India(NHAI) is reluctant to take up its maintenance, the Himachal Pradesh government said today.
The horseshoe-shaped 2809.16-mt long and 10.5-mt wide tunnel on Kitratpur-Manali national highway was dedicated to public on August six, 2006.
The tunnel had been plagued with seepage and leakage of water due to rains but the NHAI was reluctant to take up its maintenance, Chief Miniser Virbhadra Singh told the state assembly.
The issue of handing over the tunnel to NHAI by the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board was taken up at various levels, he said.

"The increase in seepage or leakage of water in tunnel during the rainy season is natural and cannot be avoided as the entire hill above it gets fully charged or saturated and excess water comes out through cracks," Singh said.
The HPSEB had now asked the Union government and the state to hand over the tunnel to NHAI or HPPWD for operation, maintenance and security, he said.