”The Tunnel No-33” and The Mystery of India’s Most Haunted Place

The Beauty of Himachal always thrills people in many ways. The state has much god-gifted scenery like pine trees, the low hills of the Shivalik range, and moving mist over the wooded tops. Among them, the Kalka-Shimla railway route is also a man-made beauty of the state. This route has over 880 bridges, over 919 turns, and through 102 tunnels. But one of the longest tunnels of this route is known for its particular eeriness. The passenger and nearby people say that a voice can be heard inside the tunnel.  Reportedly, the voice is that of a British railway engineer, Colonel Barog. Let us know the whole story.

Tunnel no-33

Tunnel no. 33, or the Barog tunnel, is the longest tunnel in the Kalka-Shimla railway. The tunnel has a dark secret behind it. In actuality, the tunnel was constructed by the government, and Colonel Barog was an engineer for this tunnel.

In 1898, Colonel Barog was given the task of constructing this tunnel in a stipulated time. He did calculations and ordered laborers to start boring holes in the mountain from both ends so that they could meet in the middle and finish the job in time. Although the colonel quickly realizes that digging at both ends could not meet, he had a miscalculation.  Due to the Barog folly, he was fired from the job and also fined by the government. The workers were also furious with him for his mistake.

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This all really depressed him, and he shot himself and was buried in front of the incomplete tunnel. Years later, it seems as though he never really died. locals believe he never left the place. His spirit still haunts the tunnel.

After the death of Captain Barog, the work of the tunnel no-33 was reassigned to Chief Engineer H.S. Harrington. He moved the tunnel one kilometer away from its initial position and completed the tunnel in 1903. But it is said that he, too, could not properly align the two segments. After all, with the help of a spiritual saint named Baba Bhalku from Chail, Heslington completed the tunnel. The Shimla Railway Museum records, in fact, mention Baba Bhalku’s contribution.

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Despite his calculation error, the government honored Col. Barog and named the tiny hill village after him. And where the old village was, nowadays is the Barog railway station in the Solan district. The Kalka-Simla Railway is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Source-The Hindu, India today