In a major achievement the work on Zojila Tunnel project on the Srinagar-Leh highway is going on a faster pace. Work on connecting Kashmir with Ladakh is going ahead that the deadline set which is a major achievement.
The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd’s project being executed by the Hyderabad based Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) which intends to ensure connectivity between Srinagar and Ladakh all the year around.
Senior Project Engineer MEIL, Burhan Andrabi told Greater Kashmir that the good pace of work on the Zojila Tunnel project continues and it was evident from the fact that 4-km tunnelling work from both Ladakh and Kashmir ends had been completed in a record time.
Andrabi said that everyone in the team from the project head to a labourer is involved in it and determined to complete the tunnel ahead of the deadline set. He further informed that the work on the Zojila tunnel was on a fast pace with Nilgar 1 Tunnel ready while laning of Nilgrar 2 Tunnel had commenced.
According to official sources, the Zojila Tunnel project involves the construction of a 14.15-km-long tunnel at an altitude of about 3000 metres under Zojila Pass (currently motorable only for eight months a year) on the NH-1 connecting Srinagar and Leh through Drass and Kargil. The Zojila Tunnel will be a two-lane highway. It would be 9.5-meter wide and 7.57-meter high in the shape of a horseshoe.
The New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM), an advanced technology, was used in construction.