Srinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate on January 13 the Rs 2,400 crore strategic Z-Morh tunnel on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway, which will be a major step towards making the Ladakh region accessible by road throughout the year.
Official sources said that the PM will arrive here on January 13 to physically inaugurate the Z-Morh tunnel that will bypass the road from Gagangir to Sonamarg allowing visitors and locals to visit the hill station of Sonamarg throughout the year.
According to an official involved in the construction of the key infrastructure project, if the weather holds good, Modi is likely to physically inaugurate the tunnel.
“In case of inclement weather, the tunnel will be e-inaugurated,” he said.
At present, the Gagangir-Sonamarg stretch of the road gets blocked by heavy snowfall and avalanches that hit the area every year.
Z-Morh Tunnel is a 6.5 km long 2-lane road tunnel between Gagangir and Sonamarg in the Ganderbal district of central Kashmir. It is named after the Z-shaped stretch of road that the tunnel has replaced.
The road used before was avalanche-prone and often got blocked for several months, but the Z-Morh tunnel provides all-weather connectivity to the Sonamarg tourist town. It takes only 15 minutes to travel the 6.5 km long tunnel compared to hours over the zig-zag road up and down the hills.
Together with the adjacent Zoji-La Tunnel, this geostrategically important tunnel on the Srinagar-Leh Highway will provide year-round weather-proof connectivity to Baltal (Amarnath cave), Kargil and other places in the Ladakh region.
It will also enhance military logistics and boost tourism and the economy. In addition to providing all-weather connectivity to Sonamarg, the tunnel, officials claim, will help the employment of local youth and boost tourism and allied activities in the area.
It is one of the 31 road tunnels, 20 in Jammu and Kashmir and 11 in Ladakh.
The construction of the tunnel was started in 2018.
Without naming the tunnel project, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, in a social media post, said the infrastructure asset to be inaugurated in the coming days will be a game changer for the expansion of tourism.
“J&K, especially central Kashmir, looks forward to the inauguration of a vital piece of infrastructure in the coming days. This asset will be a game changer for the expansion of winter tourism in the valley,” Abdullah posted on X.
Pertinently, the tunnel workers came under terror attack on October 20, 2024, when two terrorists entered the workers’ camp at Gagangir and fired indiscriminately. Seven civilians, including six non-local workers of the infrastructure company building the Z-Morh tunnel, were killed. A local doctor was also killed in the attack. (With additional inputs from PTI)
