The Zojila Pass of Kargil is considered to be the most dangerous pass in the world. The civil construction cost of the project is, May 2017: Four private players bid for the ₹10,000 crore project namely. The BRO has already conducted feasibility studies to bore a tunnel under the 11,575-ft Zoji La connecting Srinagar and Leh. Zoji La tunnel first section will involve the construction of a 18.50-km road. Tweet on Twitter. “Work will start in full swing after winters and till then we have time to stockpile all the material as well as move the machinery,” Prashant said, adding that the haulage coming out of the tunnel will be efficiently dumped keeping in view the fragile environment. The excavation work on the tunnel was completed in October 2017 when the south and north ends were joined. Prashant Kumar, deputy general manager with Hyderabad-based construction company Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), which has been entrusted with construction of this key tunnel by the Government of India-owned National Highways and Industrial Development Corporation (NHIDCL), told Kashmir Reader that advice is being sought from leading tunnelling experts in the world as well as in India on how to arrive at the middle of the tunnel. Aug 2020: MEIL (Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd) emerges as lowest bidder for the tender with quoted price of ₹4509 crores. The project involves construction of a 14.15-km long tunnel at an altitude of about 3,000 m under Zojila pass (presently motorable only for six months in a … For the mountain pass in Ladakh, see Zoji La. The project has a completion schedule of six years. It will also be Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel. “The task is locating such a point in this treacherous terrain from where our approach and haulage is easy,” he said, explaining that instead of working on a 14-kilometre tunnel, an adit will enable work on two 7-km tunnel sections. Zojila pass, situated at an altitude of 11,578-ft on Srinagar-Kargil-Leh NH, remains closed during winters due to heavy snowfall and avalanches, cutting Leh-Ladakh region from Kashmir. Zojila pass is situated at an altitude of 11,578 feet on Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway which remains closed during winters ; It will take seven years for the completion of the project The project holds strategic significance as Zojila Pass is situated at an altitude of 11,578 feet on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway and remains closed during winters due to heavy snowfall. The proposed tunnel will pass through the Zojila Pass, which serves as the gateway to the Ladakh region. FP Staff May 20, 2018 08:58:58 IST. Zoji La was re-captured from Pakistani raiders under Operation Bison. The tunnel built at an altitude of 11578 feet will be very modern. He said that given that several tunnel projects are coming up in JK and neighbouring areas, the company is sticking to the tested techniques. It is in the Himalayas, between Sonamarg and Dras city in Kargil district of the Indian Union Territory of Ladakh. The company is also moving its machinery amid frigid conditions to brace up for work on the western portal in Sonamarg area, where work on one of the first sections has just commenced. Share on Facebook. Once ready, the tunnel … Jammu Tawi, Mar 05. When completed, it will be the longest bidirectional … January 2018: Union Cabinet approves tunnel to be built at a cost of, May 2018: Foundation stone laid by Prime Minister, March 2019: The project is to be bid again as earlier developer. Three youths killed in Lawaypora encounter last month were involved in militancy: IGP, No end to stalemate over mutton rates: Mutton dealers protest in Srinagar, demand govt provide them livestock, NHRC orders compensation for infant deaths linked to consumption of spurious drugs in Udhampur, Duty of State to protect life of citizens if perception of threat: HC on plea by BJP corporator, GRAS portal to enable people to pay govt receipts from anywhere: Govt, 32nd National Road Safety month kick started in Kashmir. The would be Asia's longest tunnel is going to be 14.15 kms long and worth Rs 6809 crore. He said even though finding the adit is a hard task, the company will have to accomplish it by all means as it is critical for adhering to the completion time of the tunnel that has been fixed at 72 months. June 2017: Contract to be awarded to the bidders by June end and work to start in August 2017. According to company estimates, more than 41 lakh truck loads of haulage is expected to be pulled out of this tunnel. More than 41 lakh truck loads of haulage expected to be pulled out of the tunnel. The company will also simultaneously work on the first section that is to be developed by constructing the 18.5 kilometre road towards the main tunnel reaching Baltal via Sonamarg and Nilgrath. After Atal Tunnel, the work of Zojila Tunnel starts to connect Kargil to Srinagar. [5], Road tunnel under the Zoji La pass in the Himalayas, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Limited (NHIDCL) under MoRT&H, "Zoji-La tunnel will be a boon for the armed forces and for tourists too", "Work on 6.5 km Z-Morh tunnel to begin this year", "PM Modi inaugurates Zojila project in Leh: All you need to know about India's longest tunnel", "Work On Zojila Pass Tunnel In J&K To Commence On August 15, NHIDCL Says", "Union Cabinet approved all-weather Zojila Tunnel Project", "4 players in race for ₹10,000-cr Zojila tunnel", "Work on Zoji-la Tunnel to begin on August 15", "IL&FS bags Rs 4,899-crore Zojila tunnel project in rebidding", "Cabinet approves Zojila tunnel for Rs 6809 cr; construction in 5 yrs", "Zoji La Tunnel for all-weather Kashmir-Ladakh road; PM Modi to lay foundation stone of big infra project", https://www.dnaindia.com/business/report-ilfs-hit-zojila-tunnel-project-goes-for-rebid-2726474, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/roadways/fresh-bids-invited-for-zojila-tunnel-ladakh-road/articleshow/76313138.cms, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/megha-engineering-lowest-bidder-for-zojila-tunnel-quotes-rs-4509-cr-for-project/articleshow/77677323.cms, https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/megha-engineering-company-to-build-zojila-pass-tunnel-project-876159.html, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/zojila-tunnel-project-awarded-to-hyderabad-based-megha-engineering/articleshow/77755618.cms, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/gadkari-to-initiate-first-blasting-of-all-weather-zojila-tunnel-between-srinagar-and-leh/story-M1IzoZ93isMJjqgRP8C4YO.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zoji-la_Tunnel&oldid=1000241395, Articles with dead external links from December 2018, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The Zoji-La pass has been inaugarated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his Jammu & Kashmir visit. [3], The Zoji La tunnel project was approved by the Government of India in January 2018 and the commencement of its construction was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2018. Scheduled for completion around 2025, the Zojila Tunnel will permit round-the-year connectivity with the strategically important regions of Kargil and Drass — which ranks as the second coldest inhabited place (population 15,500) on Earth after Russia’s Oymyakon. Zojila Tunnel. [4] The tunnel will be built under EPC mode (engineering, procurement, construction) wherein the Government of India will provide the money and the executing agency will do the construction and will later hand over the project to the Government of India. Aman Bhatt, one of the planning engineers with MEIL, said that if the haulage from the main tunnel is ferried on trucks carrying 12 cubic meter of load, it would need 41,11,045 such trips. He said that hard rock is always better than fractured one or loose material, “but we expect both of these.” 4. The strategic Zojila tunnel for all-year connectivity between Leh and Srinagar may undergo some design changes to prevent cost escalation as the government plans to complete the project at the earlier estimated cost of about Rs 6,800 crore, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said.. Zoji La is a high mountain pass located in the Kargil district of Ladakh. The Z-Morh Tunnel along with the Zojila tunnel are designed to provide all-weather road connectivity to Jammu and Kashmir parts which remain closed during the winters due to heavy snowfall. Larsen & Toubro, Medha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd and IRCON have placed a bid for the ₹4,400 crore Zojila Pass tunnel connecting Kashmir with Ladakh. The Zoji La tunnel project was approved by the Government of India in January 2018 and the commencement of its construction was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2018. The initial cost of the tunnel is US$930 million. It involves construction of a 14.15-km long tunnel at an altitude of about 3,000 m under Zojila pass (presently motorable only for six months in a year) on NH-1 connecting Srinagar and Leh through Drass and Kargil. Zoji La is 15 km from Sonamarg and provides a vital link with Drass and Kargil in Ladakh but remains closed for 6-7 months (from November to May) during winter due to heavy snow fall & snow avalanches. It takes more than 3 hours to cross the pass but the tunnel will reduce the time. This tunnel was a strategic requirement of the army and the Ladakhi people as the pass is close to LOC and vulnerable to hostile actions by terrorists. The length of this tunnel will be 14.15 km. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ StumbleUpon Pinterest Shares Called an ‘adit’ in tunnelling parlance, a horse-shoe shaped excavation in the middle will open up two passages in opposite directions The 14.2-km-long tunnel is to be dug 700 metres below the surface. The longest tunnel will be 27 km long. June 2020: Fresh bids invited for construction of tunnel. Zoji La Tunnel is a 14.2 km long road tunnel under Zoji La pass in the Himalayas between Sonmarg and Drass town in Kargil district of the Indian Union Territory of Ladakh, currently under construction, with completion expected about Planned as a smart tunnel, it will have the latest safety features such as fully transverse ventilation system, uninterrupted power supply, emergency lighting, CCTV monitoring, variable message signs, traffic logging equipment and tunnel radio system. The work has begun only three months ago, and presently the company is consulting the best minds in the tunnelling profession to figure out a way to reach to the middle. May 19, 2018 7:30 pm. The 14 km long tunnel will reduce the time to cross the Zoji La from more than 3 hours to just 15 minutes. Image Source : FILE PHOTO. Click here for more, By ABDUL MOHAMIN on 12:14 am January 18, 2021No Comment. PM Modi inaugurates Zojila project in Leh: All you need to know about India's longest tunnel. Zojila Pass tunnel will be India's longest tunnel and Asia’s longest 2-lane bi-directional pass. Zoji La is the second highest pass after Fotu La on the Srinagar-Leh highway, which often remains closed during winter. About the challenges inside the tunnel, Prasant said that in tunnelling every meter is a challenge in itself. Zojila pass remains closed during winters due to heavy snowfall, cutting off Ladakh region from Kashmir. The whole project will cost more than Rs 4,500 crore, but that is less than the cost of the earlier shelved ZojiLa project that had seen cost escalation to the tune of Rs 1,600 crore after it was abandoned by IL&FS Transportation Network, the road development arm of the crisis-hit Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS). The main ZojiLa tunnel will also feature ventilation shafts which will be constructed for proper airflow. The project is to be built on EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) mode. The government in January approved the Rs 6,809-crore strategic Zojila pass tunnel project in Jammu and Kashmir. The GoI has also done away with a parallel emergency tunnel in the ZojiLa project, changing the initial design, which has led to halving the project cost to around Rs 4,400 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the Rs 6,809 crore Zojila tunnel project in Jammu and Kashmir’s Leh, kickstarting the work for Asia’a longest and strategic bi-directional tunnel, which will provide all-weather connectivity between Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar, Kargil and Leh. The tunnel, which will come up at an altitude of 3,528 metres high Zojila pass, is expected to bring down the travel time from 3.5 hours to 15 minutes. Deadline for completion set at 72 months. The project aims at construction of 14.2 km long two-lane bi-directional single tube tunnel with a parallel 14.2 km long egress tunnel. The Zojila tunnel under the Zojila pass, is a 14.2 km long road tunnel. O n 19th May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Zojila tunnel project, which will provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh and, at 14.2 km, will also be the country’s longest road tunnel.. 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