Zozila Tunnel Construction Started – Burning Issues

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The News

The Zojila tunnel’s construction has commenced, with the inaugural blasting being conducted on October 15,2020.
2- km long tunnel
Two-lane, bi-directional, single-tube tunnel.
The Zojila tunnel is set to be the longest of its kind in Asia.
It will reduce the travel time to cross the ‘Zoji la’ from current 3-4 hours to 15 minutes

Zoji La means the “mountain pass of blizzards’’.
Altitude – 3,528 metres (11,575 ft)
The pass is situated between Baltal (on Sonamarg side) and Matayan (on Drass side)
It is said to be one of the most dangerous passes in the world, not just because it is extremely narrow and has no barriers, but also because of the vicious winds and heavy snowfall.
On National Highway 1, ~100 km from Srinagar

Heavy snowfall on Zojila cuts off the Ladakh region from Kashmir for more than six months from November to June every year.
All kinds of normal activities including developmental works come to a standstill, which in turn is one of the main causes of backwardness of the region.
Bottleneck – Zojila pass is only motorable for six months in a year.
The tunnel will provide all-weather access to the union territory of Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir.
Cities to be connected – Srinagar, Kargil and Leh
Will provide access to Leh via Kargil and Dras from Srinagar valley even during harsh winters

1999 – Kargil war
2005 – Plan concieved
2013 – DPR By BRO
2018 – ILFS awarded the contract
2018 – In May, PM Modi laid the foundation stone
2019 – ILFS Crisis
2020 – Project was awarded to Megha Engineering
The foundation stone for the project was laid down in May 2018, but work couldn’t progress beyond July 2019, with IL&FS, the company originally awarded the contract, running into financial trouble.
The contract was subsequently terminated. It was then awarded to Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) with the Letter of Acceptance issued in August 2020.

The tunnel will connect – Baltal and Minamarg – on either side of pass.
Tunnel = 14.2 km but total length of project = 78km, including an 18.63km approach road
The total capital cost of the project is Rs 6,808.69 crore.
It includes the cost towards land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities as well as maintenance and operation cost of tunnel for four years.

The construction period will be seven years because –
Difficult terrain where in some areas temperature dips to
- 45 degree Celsius
Altitude of 11000 ft from sea level.
Heavy snowfall and avalanches during winter.

This pass is most strategic for the entire Kargil sector which has seen intrusion and war in the past(1947-48).
Ladakh with its long borders both with China and Pakistan gets isolated from the mainland