The Zojila tunnel project, which sits on the Srinagar-Leh national highway, is now one step closer to completion.
The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) said on Tuesday that it achieved a breakthrough in the 14-kilometre tunnel, which is intended to connect the Kashmir Valley with Ladakh.
A breakthrough is the moment when a tunnel which is being constructed from both ends finally connects.
A blast broke through the final 2.5 meters of the tunnel passing through the Himalayas.
The completion of the tunnel would bring a decade-old plan for connectivity between the regions to reality.
Urban minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari pressed a remote button to trigger the breakthrough blast. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah were also present during the important moment.
Why is the breakthrough important?
The completion of the tunnel also means that India’s military supplies can be transported without the weather disruptions that are frequent in the mountains. The temperatures can plunge to minus 35 degrees Celsius in the region.
Previously, the difficult mountain pass, which remained closed for nearly 160 to 180 days every year, acted as a bottleneck to supplies to the Kargil, Siachen and eastern Ladakh.
During the Kargil conflict in 1999, Pakistani intruders occupied the heights overlooking the sections of the route to cut off supply to Kargil and Ladakh and complicate troop movements.
Military planners have viewed access through Zojila as essential for military deployments in the region and as an infrastructure asset that strengthens India's ability to respond to both Pakistan and China along the Line of Control and Line of Actual Control.
Once the pass is in operation, it is expected to provide year-round connectivity.
The Zojila tunnel project also involves an 18-kilometre approach road, with the full stretch from Sonmarg to Minimarg being 31 kilometres long.
The tunnel is 13.153 km long, 9.5 metres wide and 7.57 metres high. It is a horseshoe-shaped single tube that sits at around 11, 578 feet above the sea level.
It features a two-lane road tunnel. It is reportedly the world’s longest single-tube bi-directional bypass.
Once it is officially opened, the tunnel is expected to cut down travel time from 1 to 1.5 hours to about 15 minutes.
Officials say that the tunnel is close to completion, with the breakthrough making it ahead of schedule. It is likely to open in 2028.
