Jammu: The Zojila Tunnel, which bears immense significance for Kashmir and Ladakh, is 70% complete and is on track to be the longest such tunnel in Asia.
In his address to the Parliament, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari declared that this all-weather connectivity between Ladakh and the rest of India is going to be completed by 2026. Originally estimated to cost over Rs 12,000 crore to construct, now the project may only get finished for around Rs 5,500 crore due to the availability of modern technology and effective project management.
The 13-kilometre-long tunnel passes beneath Zojila Pass, an area of challenging sub-zero temperatures and could cut the travel time from three hours across Zojila Pass to just 20 minutes, thereby facilitating travel for both military and civilians. Now, heavy snowfall bars vehicular movement on this main road that connects Ganderbal in Kashmir to Drass in the Kargil district of Ladakh during the winter season.
The tunnel is planned to be equipped with a SCADA (Smart Tunnel) System that contains cutting-edge technology, CCTV, a radio control system, uninterrupted power supply, and ventilation. The construction under the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) has saved the government over Rs 5,000 crores.
It was in 2018 when the then Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, had laid down the foundation stone work for the Zojila Tunnel project. The tunnel comes under a larger infrastructure development initiative in J&K. Existing infrastructure projects sum up to around 2 lakh Crores, with 105 new tunnels.
[Source Credit: NDTV]
