To be completed two years ahead of deadline

Authorities are on an overdrive to build a strategic Zoji La tunnel in Kashmir to reduce travel time to Ladakh, where China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is aggressively pushing its territorial claims along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

It could be one of the very few development projects in India to be completed ahead of its deadline fixed for November 2026. Officials say the tunnel will be opened for movement of the armed forces in September 2024 in case of any emergency.

“The raw tunnel will be available for defence purposes in September 2024 if the PLA created any disturbance along the border,” said Harpal Singh, project manager of Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL), which is tasked with building the tunnel.

The tunnel would reduce the travel time on Zoji La from 3.5 hours to 15 minutes, Singh said. During the harshest winter, when temperatures went down to - 30 °C, Singh said nearly 1,000 employees of the MEIL were working in the remote mountains to complete the work.

“Even bears would go into hibernation for four months here but our men continued the work in the harsh winter,” Singh said. “We are increasing our workforce to expedite the work further. With India’s long border with two adversaries, China and Pakistan, this tunnel will help Army defend the country better,” he said.

The tunnel on Zoji La will connect Sonamarg in Kashmir with Minamarg in cold desert Ladakh. The horseshoe-shaped Zoji La tunnel will be India’s longest street burrow and the highest tunnel at 3,485 metres.

“It is an engineering marvel. It involves great skill, not just blasting mountains,” said Singh. With changing geological composition of the Himalayas, Singh says the MEIL was using drilling and blasting methods for Zoji La tunnel instead of commonly used tunnel boring machines.

The Zoji La project consists of 18-km-long tunnels and 17-km-long roads, three vertical shafts, and four bridges.

“Work is under way on a war footing and 45 per cent of the roads and tunnels have been completed so far,” Singh said.

Courtesy: The Tribune India: 28th March , 2022