India’s longest, highest all-weather tunnel connecting Ladakh to rest of country getting ready

India’s longest and highest motorable Zojila tunnel getting ready will strengthen the armed forces deployed on the Line of Actual Control on Indo-China and Line of Control on the Indo-Pakistan Border in the Ladakh region. The all-weather tunnel will connect the Ladakh region to the rest of the country throughout the year.

Ladakh generally is disconnected from the rest of the country during the winter season. The Zojila Pass gets covered under several feet of snow and frequent landslides leave the Ladakh region cut off from rest of the country.

Being constructed by the Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), Zojila tunnel is an under-construction 9.5 metre wide, 7.57 m high and 13.145 km long, horseshoe-shaped single-tube, two-lane road tunnel which passes under the Zoji La pass in the Himalayas between Ganderbal of Kashmir (J&K) and Drass town in Kargil district of Ladakh.

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“We are building 19km tunnels in this area. Five km tunnelling has been completed between Sonamarg and this place. And main Zojila tunnel starts from here which is 13 km long. From this side, we have advanced three km and from Ladakh side also we have advanced three km. We are working at a good speed. Ladakh is not a small area and with three lakh people and huge deployment of Indian Army, we can imagine any place in the world which is not connected to main land for four months via road transport. Zojila witnesses lot of snowfall and everything gets cut off,” said Harpal Singh, project head, MEIL.

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The major benefit of this tunnel would be to the armed forces deployed on the border areas. While China has built major roads and routes to the Indo-China border in the Ladakh region, the Indian side had lagged behind on the infrastructure front over the years.

However, with this tunnel, the Indian soldiers posted on LAC would be connected via surface transport throughout the year,thereby making sure any arms and ammunition can be supplied during any eventuality.

The tunnel would also impact the cost incurred on the defence in the Ladakh region. According to experts, around Rs 500-600 croreare spent on transportation during the period when Ladakh gets cut off from the rest of the country.

“Our neighbouring countries are totally hostile and are preparing to trouble us. And after the completion of Zojila, I don’t think they can trouble us or dream of doing anything, so it’s a very important tunnel from a defence point of view. For four months our defence forces cannot pass through the Zojila, so the access for eight months and everything is stored in advanced, the cost is huge and any supply during the war is not possible during winter months. So the completion of the Zojila tunnelwill enable supplies to our Army throughout the year," added Singh.

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The Zojila tunnel project comprises of smart tunnel system (SCADA), constructed using the New Austrian tunnelling method and equipped with CCTV, radio control, uninterrupted power supply and ventilation. The project consists of two small tunnels Nilgrar 1 and Nilgrar 2 which are already completed as of April 9, 2023. In the Zojila tunnel, out of 13.145 km, 5.832 km of tunnel excavation is already completed. In addition, the construction of three vertical ventilation shafts is also in place and moving smoothly.

“We are spending more than Rs 600 croreto supply to defence forces and locals in Ladakh. So, Rs 500-600 crorewould be direct saving, we would be saving in fuel as the travel time would be cut. Thousands of crores would be saved due to this tunnel. This tunnel is being built with the latest technology in the world. We call it the new Austrian tunnelling method. Life of tunnel will be 100 years," said Singh.

The Zojila Tunnel would be fully functional and thrown open to the public in 2026.

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