The Centre on 3 January 2017 approved the Zojila pass tunnel project in Jammu and Kashmir to provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh.
Once the 14.5-km tunnel is completed, it will be Asia’s longest single tube two-lane road. The project was conceived 20 years ago to provide all-weather connectivity to the strategically important Kargil and Leh regions.
What
- Zojila pass is situated at an altitude of 11,578 feet on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway which remains closed during winters (December to April) due to heavy snowfall and avalanches cutting off the Leh-Ladakh region from Kashmir. The tunnel will be built from Baltal to Drass on the Srinagar-Leh highway.
- Once the project is completed, the travelling time between Baltal to Drass will be reduced to 14 minutes from the current 3 and a half hours.
- The total capital cost of the project is Rs 6,808.69 crore, which includes the cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities, as well as the maintenance and operation cost of the tunnel for four years.
- The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways through the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited.
- The construction will start by May next year and will take seven years to complete.
