Tunnels in Shimla

 Tunnels in Shimla

Shimla’s life-line is the Cart Road is also known as the Circular Road. Both commerce and pedestrians follow this pathway. Built around 1860 from Kalka to Shimla to move the government from Kolkata to Shimla each year, it had also become the life-line for commerce and people. Although the road begins at Kalka but only the area around Shimla is called the Cart Road, but it continues all the way to Shipki Pass at the China border with road designated as NH22. It was widened from its initial 20 feet width, several times during 1860 to 1920 period up to Shimla. Beyond that, it remained this 20-foot route until around the 1950s. It was later extended and made motorisable. The construction of this road was no easy task because the mountains and their spurs stood on the path. Mules, horse-drawn carriages and bull-drawn carriages require a level road and gentle incline. This was only possible if the road went along the contours of the mountains. Once completed, it brought Wool to the plains of Punjab and took grain and cotton textiles to the hills. Prior to that, badly built and poorly kept pathways did that job at a high cost of man and animal. 

Shimla remained as a central location for hill trade, so its road network needed upgrades and expansion. At a few places, the mountains stood on the path, so the choice was to go with the contours of the mountains (longer route) or tunnel through. Tunnelling was the better option. 

Two kinds of tunnels were constructed in Shimla at the beginning of the century. These were pedestrian tunnels or tunnels that move the commercial traffic of horse-drawn cars or bullock carts, etc. They were later converted to vehicles.

The pedestrian tunnels are:

1.) Lower Bazaar Tunnel, 

2.) Bemloe Tunnel (now unused).

The traffic tunnels are:

3. Sanjauli-Dhalli tunnel, 

4. Victory Tunnel just before you enter the city,

5. Auckland Tunnel, which bypasses the Longwood Loop. 

The Lower Bazaar tunnel constructed around 1905 linked pedestrian traffic from one side of the mountain to the other. It is 500 feet long tunnel that skirted the Mall/Ridge high point. This reduced travel time and the cost of carrying cargo to the other side. The Most suitable location was where the Lower Bazaar shopping district meets the pathway coming from both the Gunj Bazaar and the Cart Road. Unfortunately, this location, after the fire of 1876 on the ridge, had been assigned to native stores. It was occupied. The British made a major effort to relocate stores and houses at this location (approximately 300 feet in length) to another location with appropriate incentives. The Sud/Sood merchants asked for major concessions in land allocation to relocate and cash grants too. This was done and the space was freed up. There was no such problem at the other end of the tunnel, so work began in 1905. The experience gained by drilling 103 railway tunnels from Kalka to Shimla was applied. This tunnel resembles railway tunnels and its dimensions are replicates of one of the railway tunnels. It took two years to dig as explosives, although available, could not be used since there was a rather large residential community above. Besides, there was and still is a Masjid just above the location of the tunnel, so the care had to be exercised while boring it. It was dug high enough for a horse and a rider to fit. Completed in 1907, it was opened for pedestrian traffic thereafter. As soon as it opened, water began to seep into it and began to drip on walking pedestrians. This problem was overcome by installing thick gauge painted corrugated sheets to direct the water to the side drains on both sides. This system lasted very long time and worked perfectly well. 

The 65 foot Bemloe Tunnel is a short tunnel which connects pedestrian traffic, mostly British gentry living in the area to reach the Mall easily. This tunnel was also constructed at the same time as others and operated for 70 years until it became necessary to close it. A large office building was built on top of this. It would otherwise have crushed the tunnel, so closure was key.

There are two plus one vehicular traffic tunnels in Shimla. The first was built in 1910 (Sanjauli-Dhalli tunnel) and the second (Victory tunnel) was built in 1945. The third tunnel, the Auckland Tunnel was a pedestrian tunnel and only recently widened and thrown open to the vehicular traffic. 

The Sanjauli-Dhalli tunnel was a major undertaking for commerce going all the way to Rampur & further and also connected Suket/Bhajji/Kiyyar and other princely states beyond Shimla. He followed a pattern of railway tunnels completed earlier. It is not wide enough to accommodate traffic in both directions. But It served its purpose for a long time. When the need for trade and the transport of persons increased, it became a one-way tunnel allowing traffic only in one direction at a time. This led to considerable delays, which led to the need to dig another tunnel parallel to the existing tunnel. Undertaking this project is not a big task, once given a green signal, it may be completed within two years. To reduce congestion on this road, a bypass was built, bypassing the tunnel and Sanjauli bottleneck.

The Victory Tunnel, just past the Shimla Railway Station, is a British parting gift. It was built in 1945. At that time, traffic began to increase, and it became essential to make it wider for both-way traffic. It in fact made the Cart Road truly into a circular road and relieved Shimla of possible traffic congestion. Most vehicular traffic heading to Sanjauli and beyond bypasses the Shimla main.

The Auckland Tunnel was a pedestrian tunnel and now it has been converted to a vehicular traffic tunnel. Initially, it was also completed within roughly the same time frame as others. It bypassed the Longwood Loop.

Still about 200,000 people in Shimla proper and another 200,000 in surrounding areas are handicapped with traffic congestion, especially during the summer tourist rush season hence additional tunnels to bypass the traffic are essential. This work is at advance stage of planning and routing. These planned tunnels are longer, hence would take a bit longer time to build, although current tunnel boring machines could make a short work of an otherwise long and tedious job. One day, these will also be completed and turn Shimla from a hill station to a smart town.

Cheers.........