Asia's longest tunnel at Zojila Pass to be ready before 2024 polls: Nitin Gadkari

Asia's longest road tunnel at Zojila Pass in Jammu & Kashmir will be ready by December 2023, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday. After an in-person review of the work at Zojila and Z D Morh in J&K's Baltal, Nitin Gadkari said that the tunnel will be inaugurated before the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Calling the timely completion of the tunnel a 'challenge', the Transport Minister said that he wanted the project to be concluded before Republic Day 2024.

“It was supposed to be completed by September 2026, but I have asked them to finish it by December 2023 so that the Prime Minister can inaugurate it before Republic Day of 2024. We would want it to be finished before the Lok Sabha elections," said Gadkari after reviewing the tunnel.

Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur also reviewed the progress of the tunnel as a part of a two-day visit under the Centre's public outreach programme on Tuesday. The I&B Minister stressed on putting in every effort to complete the work well before the scheduled deadline and called the project of 'significant importance' with regard to national security, development and tourism for both Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The tunnel is supposed to provide an alternative to the ancient Zojila pass and help in the round-the-year connectivity of Kargil and Leh.

About the Zojila tunnel

Dubbed as Asia's longest bi-direction tunnel, the 14.5 km Zolija tunnel is envisaged to provide all-weather connectivity between Kashmir and Ladakh. The project site of the Zojila tunnel is located on National Highway-01, starting from Sonamarg in Jammu and Kashmir and ending at Minamarg in Ladakh. Located at an elevation ranging from 2,700m to 3,300m, the tunnel is the longest tunnel (13.2 km) at this elevation in the Asia region. The project is being built at a cost of more than Rs 4,600 crore. Apart from providing connectivity between the two regions, which would otherwise be hampered due to avalanches and snow, the site is also touted to be a strategic asset for the armed forces. 

(With Agency Inputs)