Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), that is executing Zoji-la Tunnel said that the work on it is going on at a rapid pace and the project is likely to be completed by December 2026.
So far, 28 per cent work on the tunnel was completed.
Zoji-la Tunnel, Union Minister Gadkari tweeted, “Meet Asia’s largest tunnel – Zoji-la Tunnel, an engineering marvel with all-weather connectivity…With the development of the Zoji-la Tunnel, we aim to achieve all-weather hassle-free connectivity between Kashmir to Kanyakumari.”
Meil is the company which has done Kaleshwaram project for the Telangana Government in a record time.
If the tunnel is completed the average travel time to cross the Zoji-la (pass) that is three hours now will come down to 20 minutes.
It will not only bring Ladakh closer to the Kashmir Valley but also help save fuel. He added the treacherous terrain of Zoji-la claimed many lives in accidents every year but after the tunnel is completed, the chances of such mishaps will be zero.
The work underway on the Zoji-la Tunnel, Asia’s longest tunnel that will establish an all-weather connectivity between the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh, he said tourism will increase by many fold and job opportunities will rise when the tunnel is commissioned. Zoji-la Tunnel is a horseshoe-shaped single-tube tunnel that is 9.5 metre wide, 7.57 meter high and 14.2 km long.
The 2-lane road tunnel will pass through the 11,575 feet high Zoji-la (pass) in the Himalayas between Ganderbal district of the Kashmir Valley and Drass town in Kargil district of Ladakh.
