1 day ago
1
Zojila Tunnel saw the airy of the time connected Tuesday (June 9, 2026) after a breakthrough was achieved done a blast arsenic 1 of the astir ambitious infrastructure projects successful the country, the world's longest single-tube bi-directional bypass astatine a grounds height, nears completion.
“Breakthrough successful the 2.5 metre region successful the passageway has been successfully achieved,” officials said.
The breakthrough has brought the decades-old imagination of all-weather connectivity betwixt the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh person to reality.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari pressed the distant button, blasting the breakthrough tract adjacent the East Portal of the passageway astatine Minimarg successful Ladakh Union Territory.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah were besides present.
Officials of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) said the breakthrough is six months up of schedule.
The officials said the passageway is apt to beryllium thrown unfastened for nationalist successful February 2028.
After the breakthrough, the civilian works volition instrumentality different 7-8 months and past the electrical works volition begin, they said.
As of now, astir 85% of the full enactment has been completed, Authority Engineer for the project, Yousef Es'haghpour Rahimabadi, told PTI in Ladakh.
The passageway — 9.5 metre wide, 7.57 metre high, 13.153 km agelong — is simply a horseshoe-shaped single-tube, a two-lane roadworthy passageway built astatine the tallness of astir 11,578 feet supra oversea level.
The geostrategically important passageway connected the Srinagar-Leh National Highway volition supply year-round, weather-proof connectivity to Ladakh, and trim the earlier 1-1.5 hours question clip to conscionable a 15-minute drive, officials said.
The passageway from Baltal successful the Ganderbal territory of cardinal Kashmir to Minimarg successful Drass territory of the Union Territory of Ladakh has an 18-km attack road.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), the bureau which is executing the project, utilized the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) to pierce done the Himalayas and navigate the fragile geology. The full task is 31-km-long, including the attack roadworthy and bridges, stretching from Sonmarg to Minimarg.
Once operational, the passageway would heighten some civilian and subject mobility crossed the treacherous Zojila Pass that is usually rendered unopen for postulation for 3 wintertime months owed to dense snowfall.
