Kyelang (also spelled Keylong) is a town and the administrative centre of the Lahaul and Spiti district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, 71 kilometres (44 mi) north of Manali via Atal Tunnel and 120 km (75 mi) from the Indo-Tibetan border. It is located along the Manali-Leh Highway and the banks of the Bhaga River. Kyelang lies about 7 km (4+1⁄2 mi) northeast of where the Chenab Valley splits into the Chandra Valley and Bhaga Valley.
Lahaul and Spiti district is a high-altitude district in Himachal Pradesh, north India. This entirely mountainous district consists of two geographically distinct as well as formerly separate political-administrative units, called Lahaul (Tibetan: གར་ཞ་, Wylie: gar zha) and Spiti (Tibetan: སྤི་ཏི་, Wylie: spi ti; or Tibetan: སྤྱི་ཏི, Wylie: spyi ti). Lahaul and Spiti is the largest district by area in Himachal Pradesh, and one of the least populous districts in the whole of India. Kyelang (also spelled as 'Keylong') in Lahaul is the headquarters of the whole district, while Spiti also has a subdivisional headquarters, at Kaza.
Lahaul and Spiti is fast becoming a top weekend getaway destination in Himachal, due to improved road access via Atal Tunnel and rising investment in resorts and adventure activities.
A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ventilation openings at various points along the length. A pipeline differs significantly from a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube construction techniques rather than traditional tunnel boring methods.
A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. The central portions of a rapid transit network are usually in the tunnel. Some tunnels are used as sewers or aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations. Utility tunnels are used for routing steam, chilled water, electrical power or telecommunication cables, as well as connecting buildings for convenient passage of people and equipment.
Atal Tunnel (Hindi: अटल सुरंग) is a 9.02-kilometre-long (5.60 mi) road tunnel connecting Manali and Keylong, thus helping in bypassing the Rohtang Pass, Himachal Pradesh in the eastern Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas. It carries two lanes of National Highway 3 and is the longest highway single-tube tunnel above 10,000 feet (3,048 m) in the world. It is named after the former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The tunnel reduces the travel time and overall distance between Manali and Keylong on the way to Leh. The route, which previously went through Gramphu, was 116 km (72.1 mi) long and took 5 to 6 hours in good conditions. The new route via the tunnel brings down the total distance travelled to 71 km (44.1 mi) which can be covered in about 2 hours, a reduction of around 3 to 4 hours when compared to the earlier route. Moreover, the tunnel bypasses most of the sites that were prone to road blockades, avalanches, and traffic snarls.