Sonmarg: India’s state-of-the-art Zojila tunnel that will link strategically crucial Ladakh region with the rest of the country throughout the year is expected to be complete by 2025, a year before the target date, a senior official said on Monday.
Over 13-kilometre long Zojila tunnel, that is the longest bi-directional tunnel in Asia built at a height of over 11,500 feet, will link Leh with Srinagar throughout the year as the existing highway between the two cities is closed for 5-6 months during the winters, affecting the movement of military convoys and civilian population.
“The target year as per the contract is to complete the tunnel by 2026 but we are confident that we will be able to complete the work much earlier,” said GS Kambo, Executive Director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, the government agency supervising the construction work.
Kambo said the excavation work on the 500-meter long section in the main tunnel is already complete in less than a year and it will be done at a much faster speed due to three 180-meter to 380-meter tall vertical shafts that are being dug in the mountain.
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“These shafts will provide ventilation and also access to speed up the work on the tunnel,” he said adding that these three shafts will provide 6 more fronts to carry on the digging work for the tunnel.
The tunnel, which is being built at a cost of Rs 4,600 crores, also has more than 18-kilometre long approach road. It is being built in an extremely difficult terrain where the construction work could not be done for 5-6 months during the winters due to extreme weather and heavy snowfall.
However, this year the contractor, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure (MEIL), which took over the job after the scandal-hit IL&FS left the project due to bankruptcy proceedings, is planning to carry on the construction work during the winters.
“This year we will station the people at the construction site. They will carry on the work even if the existing road is cut-off due to 20-30 feet tall snow-walls,” PV Krishna Reddy, Managing Director of MEIL told ETV Bharat.
Z-Morh Tunnel
The work on one more tunnel, called Z-Morh tunnel, to provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar and Sonmarg town is also going on at a fast pace.
The 6.5-kilometre-long Z-Morh tunnel is being built at a cost of Rs 2,300 crores and has a 5.5-kilometre-long approach road.
NHIDCL’s Kambo informed that the two sections of the ZMorh tunnel, being dug from two different ends, were connected on Friday (September 24).
While Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari is visiting the Z-Morh tunnel and Zojila tunnel on Tuesday to take stock of the construction work, Anurag Thakur, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting visited the Zojila tunnel on Sunday.
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Kambo said once the Z-Morh tunnel is complete then the residents of Sonmarg town that migrate towards Srinagar during the peak winters to avoid being cut-off from the rest of the country can stay in the town.
“A 6.5-kilometre long section on Srinagar-Sonmarg road is extremely avalanche prone. The tunnel and approach roads are being designed in such a manner by building snow-dams, avalanche dams that the traffic will not be affected even if an avalanche hits the road,” he said adding that once the Z-Morh tunnel is open then the residents can stay in Sonmarg even during the peak winters.
He said the target date to complete Z-Morh tunnel is December 2023 but NHIDCL plans to complete it by December 2022.
NHIDCL is also planning to open the Z-Morh tunnel for limited traffic movement even while other construction work on the tunnel is getting completed.
Kambo said the time and duration of opening the Z-Morh tunnel for limited traffic movement before its completion will be decided by the respective Union Territory governments.
