Centre invites global bids for 14.08-km-long Zojila tunnel, set to be the longest in South-East Asia
To meet the long-pending demand for an all-weather road to Ladakh, the Centre has taken the first step for construction of South-East Asia’s longest Zojila tunnel connecting Kashmir’s Sonmarg with the Gumri area in Kargil district.
For the execution of the project, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, headed by Nitin Gadkari, has invited international bids for Expression of Interest. The bids will be opened on January 14 next year.
The 14.08-km-long tunnel will be constructed in seven years with an estimated cost of Rs 9,090 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to J&K last month, had announced Rs 80,000-crore economic package, which included allocation for the construction of the Zojila tunnel.
The project holds strategic importance in view of Ladakh sharing its vast borders with the aggressive China. The tunnel will be built on the design-build-finance-operate-transfer (DBFOT) (annuity) basis.
The proposed tunnel will pass through Zojila, which serves as the gateway to the Ladakh region. The pass, located at an altitude of about 12,000 ft (3,530 metres), is the fourth highest pass in the country. Out of the 30-km stretch from Sonamarg in Kashmir to Gumri near the Zojila, a 10-km run is tough covering steep ravines and vertical mountains prone to avalanches. “The tunnel will be completed within seven years and its concession period will be 22 years comprising seven years of construction and 15 years of operation period,” an official source said.
“It is expected that the work on the project may begin in the next couple of months once the procedure for Expression of Interest gets completed. It is a dream project not only for Ladakhi people but also for entire country as it will provide round-the-year connectivity to Ladakh, which remains cut off from other parts of the world for almost six months due to closure of two vital highways — the 434-km-long Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highway and the 474-km-long Manali-Leh road — due to the accumulation of snow in harsh winters,” a source said. The Srinagar-Kargil-Leh road traverses through two major mountain ranges. It first crosses through the Himalayas at Zojila and then the Zanskar mountain range at Fatula to enter into Ladakh. Apart from its tough topography, the mighty Zojila witnesses a maximum standing snow of around 5-6 metres every year.
The all-weather road has remained a major election issue in Ladakh, which faces shortage of essential commodities when both highways to the region remain closed in winter.
In July, the National Highways Authority of India had drilled a hole through the final section of the country’s longest 9.2-km-long road tunnel between Chenani (south end) and Nashri (north end) on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
