NHIDCL, IL&FS sign MoU for construction of Zojila tunnel

The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) under the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd on January 25, 2018 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for construction of the 14.150  km long,  2-lane bi-directional Zojila Tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

Once built, Zojila Tunnel would be India’s longest road tunnel and the longest bi-directional tunnel in Asia. The construction of this tunnel will provide all weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh and will bring about all round economic and socio-cultural integration of these regions.

Zojila Tunnel Project
• The project aims at construction of 14.150 km long two lane bidirectional single tube tunnel with a parallel 14.200 km long egress tunnel between Baltaland Minamarg in the state of J&K.

• The total capital cost of the project is Rs 6808.69 crore. It includes the cost towards land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation as well as maintenance cost for 4 years.

• The civil construction cost of the project is Rs 4899.42 crore.

• The construction period of the project is 7 years, beginning from the date of commencement of construction.

• The tunnel will have all modern technical safety arrangements such as cut and cross ventilation system, two axial fans,, fully transverse ventilation system, uninterrupted  power supply, CCTV monitoring, traffic logging equipment , tunnel radio, emergency telephone system etc.  

• The main objective of the project is to provide all whether connectivity to strategically important Leh region in Jammu & Kashmir which at the moment is limited to 6 months in a year because of snow and threat of avalanches.

• This project, along with other ongoing projects like 6.5 km long Z-Morh tunnel at Gagangir would ensure safe, fast and cheap connectivity between the two regions of Kashmir and Ladakh.

• The projects will also increase the employment potential for the local labourers for the project activities. There would be enormous boost in employment as local businesses get linked to national market and the region is able to receive round the year tourist traffic.

CCEA approves construction, operation and maintenance of Zojila tunnel in J&K