A day after assuming power, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday ordered the restoration of the Atal tunnel's inauguration plaque that was reported missing in 2020. The foundation stone plaque of Atal Tunnel Rohtang near Manali was laid by Sonia Gandhi when she was the chairperson of the National Advisory Council on June 28, 2010.
Sukhu said that the missing plaque came as an insult to democracy and ordered its reinstallation at the earliest.
The plaque was reportedly removed right before PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the tunnel on October 3, 2020.
The foundation stone was laid in the presence of the then CM Prem Kumar Dhumal and the late Union Minister Virbhadra Singh.
The 9.02-km long horseshoe-shaped Atal Tunnel, the world's longest motorable tunnel, in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district was built by the Border Road Organisation to connect landlocked Lahaul-Spiti district with Manali.
Following the removal of the plaque, there has been a political war of words around the same. The Congress had previously raised the issue, but no cognisance of the matter was taken.
