THE Zojila tunnel connecting the Kashmir Valley to Ladakh took a crucial step towards completion on Tuesday with a blast breaking through the last 2.5 metres of the high-altitude infrastructure project that cuts through the Himalayas. With this, the two ends of the world’s longest single-tube bi-directional bypass, which will cut travel time from 1.5 hours to 15 minutes, have now been connected, officials said. “Breakthrough in the 2.5 metre distance in the tunnel has been successfully achieved,” an official said. The breakthrough has brought the decades-old dream of all-weather connectivity between the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh closer to reality. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari pressed the remote button, blasting the breakthrough site near the East Portal of the tunnel at Minimarg in Ladakh Union Territory, they said. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah were also present. Officials of the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) said the breakthrough is six months ahead of schedule. As of now, about 85 per cent of the total work has been completed, Authority Engineer for the project, Yousef Es’haghpour Rahimabadi, told PTI here. The tunnel is likely to be thrown open to the public in February 2028, the officials said, adding that after the breakthrough, the civil works will take another 7-8 months and then the electrical works will begin.

 

The tunnel -- 9.5 metre wide, 7.57 metre high, 13.153 km long -- is a horseshoe-shaped single-tube, a two-lane road tunnel built at the height of around 11,578 feet above sea level. The geostrategically important tunnel on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway will provide year-round, all-weather connectivity to Ladakh, reducing the travel time from 1-1.5 hours to 15 minutes, officials said. The tunnel from Baltal in the Ganderbal district of central Kashmir to Minimarg in Drass district of the Union Territory of Ladakh has an 18-km approach road. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari described the breakthrough in the Zojila tunnel as a golden day in the infrastructure history of the country, saying the project would become a lifeline for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. “Today is the golden day in India’s infrastructure history. I am happy that the 14 km-long, state-of-the-art, world’s longest tunnel will be a lifeline for the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh,” Gadkari said after the breakthrough was achieved in the tunnel. Speaking on the occasion, J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said the Zojila tunnel breakthrough marks a historic occasion. “The way development work in J&K and Ladakh is going on, it will help increase tourism and improve national security,” the J&K LG said. J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah appealed to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to use his influence to launch direct air connectivity to Kargil. “I congratulate the people of Ladakh and thank Gadkari and his officers in the Ministry for this breakthrough, which will bring us closer to the dream of all-weather connectivity,” Abdullah said.