Minimarg: Describing the Zojila Tunnel as a lifeline for the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday described the breakthrough in the tunnel as a golden day in the infrastructure history of the country.
“Today is the golden day in India’s infrastructure history. I am happy that the 14 km-long, state-of-the-art, world’s longest tunnel will be a lifeline for the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh,” Gadkari said after the breakthrough was achieved in the tunnel.
He said the Zojila tunnel approach would be completed by February 2028.
“This is a good gift for the people of J&K and Ladakh,” he said
Congratulating the engineers and workers of the project, the Union Minister for road transport and highways said they have worked in extreme cold and difficult conditions.
“This will provide all-weather connectivity. The tunnel has all the safety features and the project has provided jobs to locals,” he said.
Gadkari said Rs 5,000 crore has been saved as the total cost of the work would come to around Rs 7,000 crore, which is less than the estimated cost of Rs 12,000 crore.
He expressed gratitude to labourers, consultants, engineers and officials of the executing agency, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited, as well as the NHIDCL team.
The Union Minister also announced a slew of new projects for J&K and Ladakh.
On the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, Gadkari said while 20 tunnels have been completed, work is ongoing on five more.
“After the completion of those tunnels, the travel time will be reduced to three hours from Jammu to Srinagar. It is my dream and I assure you it will be realised soon,” he added.
Blast breaks through last 2.5 metre in Zojila tunnel
Minimarg (Ladakh) (PTI) The Zojila tunnel connecting the Kashmir Valley to Ladakh took a crucial step towards completion on Tuesday with a blast breaking through the last 2.5 metres of the high-altitude infrastructure project that cuts through the Himalayas.
With this, the two ends of the world’s longest single-tube bi-directional bypass, which will cut travel time from 1.5 hours to 15 minutes, have now been connected, officials said.
“Breakthrough in the 2.5 metre distance in the tunnel has been successfully achieved,” an official said.
The breakthrough has brought the decades-old dream of all-weather connectivity between the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh closer to reality.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari pressed the remote button, blasting the breakthrough site near the East Portal of the tunnel at Minimarg in Ladakh Union Territory, they said.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah were also present.
Officials of the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) said the breakthrough is six months ahead of schedule.
As of now, about 85 percent of the total work has been completed, Authority Engineer for the project, Yousef Es’haghpour Rahimabadi, told PTI here.
The tunnel is likely to be thrown open to the public in February 2028, the officials said, adding that after the breakthrough, the civil works will take another 7-8 months and then the electrical works will begin.
The tunnel — 9.5 metre wide, 7.57 metre high, 13.153 km long — is a horseshoe-shaped single-tube, a two-lane road tunnel built at the height of around 11,578 feet above sea level.
The geostrategically important tunnel on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway will provide year-round, all-weather connectivity to Ladakh, reducing the travel time from 1-1.5 hours to 15 minutes, officials said.
The tunnel from Baltal in the Ganderbal district of central Kashmir to Minimarg in Drass district of the Union Territory of Ladakh has an 18-km approach road.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), the agency executing the project, used the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) to pierce through the Himalayas and navigate the fragile geology. The entire project is 31 km long, including the approach road and bridges, stretching from Sonmarg to Minimarg.
Once operational, the tunnel would enhance both civilian and military mobility across the treacherous Zojila Pass that is usually rendered shut for traffic for three winter months due to heavy snowfall.
