Zojila Tunnel Reaches Final Breakthrough for All-Weather Ladakh Connectivity
#GS-3 #Infrastructure #Current Events #National #Economy #Geography
Why in News
- The strategic Zojila Tunnel linking Kashmir and Kargil has achieved its final breakthrough.
- This progress brings the project closer to completion and ensures year-round connectivity to Ladakh.
About Zojila Tunnel
- The Zojila Tunnel is a high-altitude road tunnel joining Jammu and Kashmir with Ladakh.
- It provides continuous travel options across all seasons between Kashmir, Kargil and Ladakh.
- Engineers built it near Zojila Pass, which links the Kashmir Valley directly to Drass, Kargil and Ladakh.
Key Features
- The tunnel measures approximately 13.14 km to 14.15 km long.
- It ranks among the world's longest single-tube, bi-directional road tunnels.
- Workers constructed the structure at an impressive altitude of about 11,578 feet.
Need and Importance
- The current Kashmir-Ladakh highway stays closed for nearly five to six months every winter.
- Severe weather problems like heavy snowfall, avalanches and landslides block the path.
- These blockades cut off Ladakh completely and restrict both civilian and military travel.
Strategic Corridors
- Zojila forms one of three key corridors to Ladakh.
- The other two paths include the Rohtang route through Himachal Pradesh.
- The Shinku La tunnel route also connects Himachal with Ladakh's Zanskar Valley.
Military Mobility
- The new tunnel speeds up the movement of military vehicles and supplies to forward border zones.
- This improvement proves vital during emergencies along the Line of Control (LoC) and Line of Actual Control (LAC).
- During the 1999 Kargil War, Pakistani shelling made the old highway vulnerable.
- That vulnerability caused severe difficulties when transporting troops and war materials.