Nitin Gadkari inspects Zojila tunnel, assures its completion ahead of deadline

Samaan Lateef

Srinagar, April 10

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday inspected the strategically important Zojila tunnel which will reduce travel time to Ladakh where the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is aggressively pushing its territorial claims along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

It could be one of the very few development projects in India to be completed ahead of its deadline which was fixed for November 2026.

Gadkari, along with a 12-member Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Road Transport and Highways, took stock of the ongoing work at the Zojila tunnel, Asia’s longest tunnel to establish all-weather connectivity to Ladakh.

“With the construction of the Zojila tunnel, we aim to achieve all-weather hassle-free connectivity between Kashmir and Kanyakumari,” Gadkari said.

The need for the Zojila tunnel was first felt during the 1999 Kargil War, and the recent incursions by China made it an urgent necessity.

The tunnel will provide logistics flexibility and operational mobility to the Indian Army as it will reduce the travel time on the Zojila Pass from 3.5 hours to 15 minutes, Singh said.

The Zojila pass, which marks the end of the conifer-clad mountains of the Kashmir Valley, will connect Sonamarg in Kashmir with Minamarg in cold desert Ladakh.

To be built at a cost of Rs 2,600 crore, the horseshoe-shaped Zojila tunnel will be India’s longest street burrow and the highest tunnel at 3,485 meters. 

“It is an engineering marvel. It involves great skill, not just blasting mountains,” officials said, adding the tunnel will reduce the distance between Baltal to Minamarg from 40 km to 13 km.

The Zojila project consists of 18-km long tunnels and 17-km long roads, three vertical shafts and four bridges.

Presently, the Zojila Pass that connects Kashmir’s capital city Srinagar to Ladakh is motorable for six months only as the accumulation of snow makes it inaccessible during winters.

It also creates inconveniences for civilians in Ladakh who have to stockpile the ration before winter sets in.

The Centre is constructing 19 in Jammu and Kashmir at a cost of Rs  25,000 crore, Gadkari said. 

“The project includes a Smart Tunnel (SCADA) system, which has been constructed using the New Austrian Tunneling Method. It is equipped with facilities like CCTV, radio control, uninterrupted power supply, ventilation. The use of modern technology in this project has saved the Government of India more than Rs 5,000 crore,” he said.

Under the Zojila tunnel project, the main Zojila tunnel of 13,153 meters with four culverts of total length of 810 meters, four Nilgrar tunnels of total length of 4,821 meters, eight cut and covers of total length of 2,350 meters and three 500 meters, 391 meters and 220 meters of vertical ventilation shaft are proposed. 

So far 28 per cent work of the Zojila tunnel has been completed, he said.

“With the construction of this tunnel, there will be all-weather connectivityto Ladakh. Currently, the average travel time to cross the Zojila Pass sometimes takes three hours. After the completion of this tunnel, the travel time will come down to 20 minutes. The reduction in travel time will ultimately result in fuel savings,” he said.

“This tunnel will provide year-round connectivity between the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh, which will be extremely important for the development of Ladakh, promotion of tourism, free movement of local goods and movement of Indian armed forces in case of emergency,” he said.