Marking a major milestone, National Highways & Infrastructure Development corporation limited (NHIDCL), an agency of Ministry of Road transport and highways (MoRTH), Tuesday achieved a breakthrough of ambitious Zojila tunnel on Sonmarg-Kargil section of National Highway- 01 (NH-01) in Jammu & Kashmir.
A breakthrough is the point or moment when a tunnel being excavated from both ends finally connects, marking the completion of a critical work. This tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity between Sonamarg (J&K) and Minamarg (Ladakh), which used to be closed around six month for heavy winters.
Located in the snowy peaks of the Himalayas, the 14-km tunnel, one of the most difficult road projects in India, is scheduled to be completed by February 2028. This is the part of a 33-km project undertaken by NHIDCL, where apart from this tunnel, a road from Z-Morh tunnel to the Zojila tunnel is also being built. The total cost of both projects are around Rs. 7000 crore.
On the occasion, Union minister said that the project will prove to be a lifeline for Ladakh. “This tunnel is situated at almost 3000 meters above (from the sea level). Workers, engineers, contactors, NHIDCL team have worked at this place at -4 degree Celsius or below temperature. 80% of the workers here were from this area. It was built with world-class safety standards. For about six months, there is no connectivity in the region. But with this tunnel, Connectivity of Srinagar, Ganderbal, Sonamarg, Dras, Kargil, Ladakh will get a new boost,” said Gadkari after the tunnel breakthrough.
The tunnel will also reduce the travel time between Sonamarg-Minamarg (38 km) 1.5 hours to 45 minutes.
The other key tunnels in J&K include 3.2 km construction of the Digdol-Khooni Nala tunnel at a cost of Rs. 1400 crore. This is scheduled for completion by september 2026. The Sungal Tunnel on the Akhnoor-Poonch road (2.7 km, Rs 444 crore) is targeted for completion by July 2026. Similarly the Bhimber Gali Tunnel (1.1 km, Rs. 231 crore) on the same road is expected to be completed by July 2027.
The Projects in the pipeline include the Singhpora-Vailoo (Sinthan Pass) Tunnel (10.3 km, Rs. 3,300 crore) and the Sudhmahadev Tunnel (5.4 km, Rs. 2,300 crore), both expected to reach the tender stage by October 2026. A 9-km parallel tunnel to the Chenani-Nashri Tunnel costing Rs. 2,700 crore is likely to receive sanction during the current year. Apart from this, DPRs are being prepared for the Sadhna Pass Tunnel (7.3 km, Rs. 3,500 crore) and the Peer Ki Gali Tunnel (8.5 km, Rs. 3,400 crore).
MoRTH, along with its agencies NHIDCL and NHAI, have been expediting the construction of tunnels in the key hilly areas with the focus on All-weather connectivity and strategic interests. Currently there are a total of 25 approved road tunnels between Jammu and Srinagar, out of which 20 tunnels have been completed and work is ongoing on five projects.
A senior official said that a total of 54 tunnels have been built across the country at a cost of Rs. 20,000 crore in the last 11 years. Currently, the work is underway on 128 tunnels at a cost of Rs. 1.12 lakh crore.
The official further said that by 2027-28, 51 tunnels with a total length of 106 km will be completed at a cost of Rs. 40,000 crore. Apart from this, the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for 77 tunnels with a total length of 194 km will be prepared by 2027-28.
