ZOJILA TUNNEL

About:

• It could be one of the very few development projects in India to be completed ahead of its deadline which was fixed for November 2026.
  
  
• Officials say the tunnel will be opened for movement of the armed forces in September 2024 if the PLA created any disturbance along the border.
  
  
• The need for the Zojila tunnel was first felt during the 1999 Kargil war and the recent incursions by China made it an urgent necessity.
  
  
• The tunnel will provide logistics flexibility and operational mobility to the Indian Army as it will reduce the travel time on Zojila Pass from 3.5 hours to 15 minutes.
  
  
• Zojila tunnel, which marks the end of the conifer-clad mountains of Kashmir Valley, will connect Sonamarg in Kashmir with Minamarg in cold desert Ladakh.
  
  
• To be built at a cost of Rs 2,600 crore, the horseshoe-shaped Zojila tunnel will be India’s longest street burrow and the highest tunnel at 3,485 metre.
  
  
• the tunnel will reduce the distance between Baltal to Minamarg from 40 km to 13 km. The Zoji La project consists of 18-km tunnels and 17-km roads, three vertical shafts, and four bridges.
  
  
• Presently, the Zojila Pass that connects Kashmir’s capital city Srinagar to Ladakh is motorable only for six months only as the accumulation of snow makes it inaccessible during winters.
  
  
• It creates inconveniences for civilians in Ladakh who have to stockpile the ration before winter sets in.