Bilaspur/Manali, Oct 6 (IANS) President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday honoured 92 doctors from the 2020 batch at the first convocation ceremony of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh. The doctors received their degrees dressed in traditional kurta-pyjama and caps. The President presented gold medals to five students who topped their respective categories and distributed degrees among the other graduating doctors.The ceremony began with a group photograph of the graduating batch. The AIIMS administration had prescribed the attire for both male and female graduates for the convocation.President Murmu arrived at the AIIMS Bilaspur helipad at around 10.35 a.m. and proceeded directly to the convocation venue.Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda, Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla and Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu were among the senior leaders who attended the ceremony.During the event, the AIIMS administration presented President Murmu with a traditional Ransingha as a commemorative memento. She was also presented with idols of Baba Balak Nath and Shri Naina Devi as ceremonial gifts.

The convocation ceremony marks an important milestone for the institute and the first batch of MBBS students who have completed their medical education at AIIMS Bilaspur.After her Bilaspur engagement, President Murmu is scheduled to travel towards Manali. On October 7, she will visit the Hidimba Temple and the Atal Tunnel at Rohtang in the Lahaul-Spiti district.The visit to the tunnel is part of the President's official programme announced by the President's Secretariat. From 8 p.m. on Tuesday until noon on Wednesday, the movement of regular vehicles from Palchan towards the Atal Tunnel Rohtang will remain closed. No vehicles of any kind will be allowed to proceed along the designated route during this period, the local administration said.The administration has appealed to local residents and tourists to plan their travel accordingly and use alternative routes if necessary.In view of the President’s visit, security and traffic arrangements have also been tightened. The Atal Tunnel, which provides all-weather connectivity between Manali and the Lahaul Valley, is an important infrastructure link in the region. The President's visit comes after her proposed visit to the tunnel during her earlier Himachal Pradesh tour in April was cancelled because of adverse weather conditions.

President Murmu, who is staying in the picturesque tourist resort Manali, is scheduled to conclude her Himachal Pradesh visit on October 8 and return to New Delhi.Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited AIIMS Bilaspur on October 5, 2022, and inaugurated the institution. The foundation stone of the hospital was also laid by the Prime Minister in October 2017, and was established under the Central sector scheme Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana.AIIMS Bilaspur, constructed at a cost of more than Rs 1,470 crore, is a state-of-the-art hospital with 18 speciality and 17 super speciality departments, 18 modular operation theatres, and 750 beds with 64 ICU beds.Spread over 247 acres, the hospital is equipped with 24-hour emergency and dialysis facilities. Also, specialist health services are being provided by the hospital through health camps in inaccessible tribal and high Himalayan regions like Kaza, Saluni, and Keylong.Likewise, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the strategically important, all-weather Atal Tunnel connecting Manali to the Lahaul-Spiti valley on October 3, 2000. Atal Tunnel is the longest highway tunnel in the world. The 9.02-km-long tunnel connects Manali to the Lahaul-Spiti valley throughout the year.Earlier, the valley was cut off for about six months each year owing to heavy snowfall. The tunnel is built with ultra-modern specifications in the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas at an altitude of 3,000 metres (10,000 feet).The tunnel reduces the road distance by 46 km between Manali and Leh and the time by about four to five hours. The South Portal of the Atal Tunnel is located at a distance of 25 km from Manali at an altitude of 3,060 metres, while the North Portal of the tunnel is located near Teling village in Sissu in the Lahaul Valley at an altitude of 3,071 metres. It is a horseshoe-shaped, single-tube double-lane tunnel with a roadway of eight metres. It has an overhead clearance of 5.525 metres. The tunnel has been designed for a traffic density of 3,000 cars a day and 1,500 trucks per day, with a maximum speed of 80 km per hour.

/IANS