Srinagar, June 9 (IANS) Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, will attend the final breakthrough ceremony of the Zojila Tunnel on Tuesday, marking a milestone in the country’s infrastructure history.

Officials said Nitin Gadkari will attend the excavation breakthrough on the Minamarg side in the Drass district of Ladakh union territory.

The officials stated that the company responsible for the construction of the Zojila tunnel has said that the final breakthrough of the 13.153-km Zojila Tunnel will be a historic milestone in India’s infrastructure history.

Located in the Zojila Pass region between Baltal near the Sonmarg hill station of Jammu and Kashmir and Minmaragh in Ladakh’s Drass district, the project is being executed to provide all-weather connectivity across one of India’s most challenging Himalayan corridors, which remains cut off for long periods every year due to heavy snowfall, avalanches and extreme weather conditions.

Officials said the tunnel, situated at an elevation of 11,578 ft above sea level, represents one of the most significant engineering achievements in India’s mountain infrastructure sector.

“The achievement of the final breakthrough marks the defining construction milestone of the excavation phase and reflects the successful completion of the most critical stage of underground works in highly demanding terrain”, officials said.

Once fully operational, the project will ensure 365-day connectivity between Srinagar and Ladakh, improving access to Drass, Kargil, Leh and surrounding regions while significantly strengthening mobility, logistics reliability and strategic access in a sensitive border zone.

Officials said that the Zojila Tunnel Project carries immense socio-economic and strategic importance. “It is expected to transform regional connectivity, improve the movement of people and goods, reduce weather-related isolation and support economic activity, tourism and essential services across the region,” they said.

The Zojila Tunnel is expected to significantly improve both civilian and military mobility in the region. At the national level, the tunnel also strengthens operational mobility and logistics preparedness in a strategically important frontier corridor, underlining its role not only as an infrastructure project, but also as a national connectivity and security asset.

With excavation now completed, the project moves closer to delivering its long-envisioned objective of seamless all-weather connectivity between Kashmir and Ladakh, bringing long-term benefits in mobility, economic integration and strategic resilience.

A dedicated team of over 1,200 personnel is working on this project, comprising 80 per cent local residents and 20 per cent specialists from other parts of the country.

The project began on October 1, 2020, and the overall safety achievement is 10 million safe man-hours.

–IANS

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