It will be India's longest road tunnel and Asia's longest bidirectional tunnel (File)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday will kick-start work on the Rs 6,809-crore strategic Zojila tunnel, that will provide all-weather connectivity between Ladakh and Kashmir valley.
Zojila pass is situated at an altitude of 11,578 feet on Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway which remains closed during winters due to heavy snowfall and avalanches cutting off Leh-Ladakh region from Kashmir.
The project aims at construction of 14.15 km-long two-lane bi-directional single tube tunnel with a parallel 14.2 km long egress tunnel excluding approaches between Baltal and Minamarg in the state. It will be India's longest road tunnel and Asia's longest bidirectional tunnel.
IL&FS Transportation last year in July had said it has emerged as the lowest bidder for Rs. 4,899 crore Zojila pass tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir.
This route remains snow-bound for a large part of the year, and is ravaged by frequent avalanches. As a result, road connectivity to places in the Ladakh region stands disrupted for long periods, preventing even essential supplies from reaching people, shutting down businesses, affecting healthcare and education.
"The Zojila tunnel has been planned as a smart tunnel. It will have latest safety features like fully transverse ventilation system, uninterrupted power supply (UPS), tunnel emergency lighting, CCTV monitoring, variable message signs (VMS), traffic logging equipment, over height vehicle detection, tunnel radio system, etc," a spokesman said.
The tunnel will cut down the time taken to cross the Zojila pass from the present 3.5 hours to just 15 minutes, besides making the drive much safer and convenient.
(With inputs from PTI)