Zojila tunnel construction | 40% work over; terrain, weather challenges push completion deadline to 2030

Officials said that while 40% of work on the 13-km-long Zojila tunnel is completed, the challenges posed by the terrain and weather are such that the rest of the work is taking time.

Difficult terrain and weather challenges have pushed the deadline for completion of the Zojila tunnel, which will provide all-weather connectivity between the Kashmir valley and the Ladakh region, to December 2030, according to officials.

The tunnel, said to be the longest of its kind in Asia and at the highest altitude, will significantly cut down the time to cross the Zojila pass from four hours to just 15 minutes, they said.

Officials said that while 40% of work on the 13-km-long tunnel is already over, the challenges posed by the terrain and weather are such that the rest of the work is taking so much time.

"The area is severely avalanche-prone. The work had to be stopped multiple times due to the difficulties posed by the weather and the terrain. The tunnel was to be completed by December 2026. But now, keeping the challenges in mind, the deadline has been revised to December 2030," Captain I.K. Singh of the Border Roads Organisation told PTI.

The tunnel project through the Zojila Pass at an altitude of 11,578 feet on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway is of strategic importance.

The highway remains closed during winter due to heavy snowfall, cutting off the Ladakh region from Kashmir. The tunnel will help overcome this hindrance and prove all-weather connectivity to the Ladakh region.

The single-tube Zojila tunnel, from Baltal in the Ganderbal district of central Kashmir to Minimarg in Drass town of Ladakh's Kargil district, has an approach road of 18 km.