As the nation bid tearful adieu to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who died on Thursday, the hill folks will always remain indebted to the towering leader for his vision of providing connectivity to rural and tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh.

While the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) conceived and implemented during Vajpayee’s tenure has seen hundreds of villages in rural and mountainous state get road connectivity over the years, his biggest ever gift to HP is mega Rohtang tunnel project (Rs 4,083 crore).

The all weather 8.8 kilometres long tunnel, being built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which is likely to complete next year, will open up Lahaul valley in tribal Lahaul Spiti district round the year.

Currently, due to snowfall on 13,050 feet high Rohtang Pass, ahead of Manali, in winter months, the Lahaul valley remains landlocked for five-six months, with people facing tough times in medical emergencies and other needs. The round the year connectivity will open up the area for social and economic development.

The Rohtang tunnel holds strategic significance too as it will connect Leh Ladakh round the year for army supplies.

“The idea to construct the Rohtang tunnel was conceived in 1998 by Vajpayee and the project was announced by him on 3 June, 2000. The project is nearing completion and would be his biggest gift to the state,” said Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur.

He said Vajpayee had special attachment with Himachal and he considered the state as his ‘second home’ as he owned a house in Prini in Kullu district ad loved to spend some time there every year, till he was in good health.

The people in rural areas of Himachal are equally grateful to Vajpayee as they stand extremely benefitted with the PMGSY, which aims to give all weather connectivity to around 5 lakh villages in the country— with hundreds of them in HP.

“The interior and inaccessible villages in Himachal could not have got roads for budgetary constraints, had it been on the state government. PMGSY is one project of Vajpayee government, which has done wonders in the tough hill state,” said Molu Ram, a village Pradhan in Chamba.

He said the PMGSY has actually transformed the rural and mountainous Himachal by clearing the roadblocks.

Vajpayee, who never said no to any financial help to HP and never mind to announce special grants spontaneously as PM, whenever he visited the hill state, had also paved the way for industrial development in Himachal.

It was during his regime that HP got the special package for industrial development in 2003. This resulted in investment worth thousands of crores of rupees and employment opportunities to lakhs of the youth.