Govt Invites Bids For Key Infra Projects Like Zozila Tunnel To Provide Round-The-Year Connectivity To Ladakh

The Central government has invited bids for building the Zozila tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir and a road connecting it to the under-construction Z-Morh tunnel in a bid to provide year round connectivity to Ladakh, Economic Time has reported.

The projects worth Rs 4,430 crore would be funded via the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) mode and efforts would be made to complete them in time.

A six year deadline has been ear-marked for the construction of the 14.15 km long Zozila tunnel on the Zojila Pass which falls on the Sonamarg-Kargil section of National Highway-01 connecting Srinagar to Leh.

The 18.47 km connecting road connecting the two tunnels is expected to completed by 2023. This road will include two 2.4 km long twin-tube unidirectional tunnels.

When complete, the Zozila tunnel would be Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel. It will ensure an all-year-round connectivity from Kashmir to Ladakh while cutting down the travel distance to just 15 to 20 minutes.

The project was earlier awarded to the beleaguered IL&FS Transportation company - the contract was terminated in 2019.