Srinagar:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the strategically important 6.5 km long Z-Morh tunnel in the Sonamarg area of ​​Jammu and Kashmir. During this, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari informed the people about many works being done regarding infrastructure in Kashmir. He said that this day is very important for Jammu and Kashmir due to the completion of the construction work which started in 2012 and started today. We are working on even bigger projects for the development here.
Nitin Gadkari informed that we are building Zojila Tunnel by connecting it with the Z-Morh Tunnel. Which is 14 kilometers and its approach road is 18 kilometers. It will cost Rs 6800 crore to prepare it. He said that I am happy to tell that, when we had floated its tender for the fifth time, at that time we had fixed its price at Rs 12 thousand crores, but now we are going to get it ready for only Rs 6800 crores. That means in this we saved about five thousand crore rupees.
He said that we studied this tunnel for a year. This is the tallest tower in Asia. With its construction, it will now take three and a half hours less to reach Leh from Srinagar. This is an all season connected road.
The Road Transport Minister said that we are building four corridors between Jammu and Srinagar by spending Rs 50 thousand crores.
Construction of four corridors between Srinagar by spending Rs 50 thousand crores
First corridor – Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar route
The first corridor is Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar route, which costs Rs 16 thousand crores, which is 250 kilometers long. It is expected that its work will be completed by December this year. We have to build 33 tunnels in this corridor, out of which we have built 15 tunnels. With its completion, the distance will be reduced by about 70 kilometers and five hours of travel time will also be saved.
Second Corridor – Jammu to Anantnag route
The second corridor is Jammu to Anantnag route, which is 202 kilometers and Rs 14 thousand crore will be spent on it. We will complete this also by December 2025. By building 5 tunnels on this route, the distance will be reduced by 68 kilometers.
Third Corridor – Surankot-Shopia-Baramulla-Uri
The third corridor is Surankot-Shopia-Baramulla-Uri. This 303 kilometer project is worth Rs 10 thousand crores. We will complete this by 2027. This will make it easier for people from Surankot, Poonch and Rajouri to travel to and from Srinagar and there will be direct connectivity from Jammu to Baramulla. DPR of its 197 kilometers has started and soon we will start work on it.
Fourth Corridor – Jammu to Akhnoor-Surankot-Poonch
The fourth corridor from Jammu to Akhnoor, Surankot, Poonch is the lifeline of Jammu and Kashmir. This 203 kilometer road is worth Rs 5 thousand crores. The DPR work for this has also started and after completing it soon, we will start this work also. There will be direct connectivity from Jammu to Poonch. People of Nowshera and Rajouri will also get its benefit.
Gadkari said that later the work of Rafiabad-Kupwara-Chamroad, a 120 kilometer road worth Rs 2.5 thousand crores, will also be completed by December 2027. This route is very important for the North-West Kashmir-Pakistan border. This 51 kilometer route will be completed by December 2026.
Nitin Gadkari said that another corridor is very important. This Kathua-Basoli-Bhadrava-Toda corridor is a 250 kilometer four-lane road at a cost of Rs 30,400 crore. Preparation of its DPR has started. The commencement of this work is expected to begin this year. With this, people going from Punjab to Srinagar can go directly from Kathua to Srinagar.
104 kilometer four lane ring road also approved for Srinagar
He said that we have also approved a 104 kilometer four lane ring road for Srinagar, which is worth Rs 7200 crore. We will complete it in December this year. We are also constructing the ring road for Jammu.
Gadkari said that Jammu and Kashmir has to be made happy, prosperous and prosperous. Industries should come here and the youth here should get employment and poverty here should be eradicated. For this purpose, efforts are being made to develop the infrastructure here.
The Transport Minister said that many difficulties were faced in the Z-Morh tunnel project, but despite all this the construction of the tunnel was completed successfully. This tunnel is located on the Srinagar-Sonmarg road, which is very important for promoting the regional development and connectivity of Jammu and Kashmir. With its opening, traffic on this route will be facilitated in all seasons and like before, the road which was closed in winter will remain open throughout the year.
Rs 2,716.90 crore spent on construction of Z-Morh tunnel
The construction of Z-Morh tunnel has cost Rs 2,716.90 crore. This two-lane tunnel, built between Gagangir and Sonmarg in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir, also has a parallel 7.5 meter wide evacuation route for emergencies. This tunnel will be for two-way traffic. Located at an altitude of 8,650 feet above sea level, this tunnel will improve all-weather connectivity between Srinagar and Sonamarg via Leh, avoiding landslides and avalanche-prone routes.
Along with the Zojila Tunnel, the Z-Morh Tunnel will reduce the distance between Kashmir Valley and Ladakh from 49 km to 43 km and vehicles will be able to run at a speed of 70 km per hour instead of 30 km per hour. The target is to complete the construction of Zojila Tunnel in 2028.
Construction of the tunnel will promote economic development and socio-cultural integration.
This construction work will prove to be strategically important for better connectivity and will promote economic development and socio-cultural integration in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The construction of the tunnel will also boost tourism in Sonamarg area. Sonamarg, which earlier faced traffic bottlenecks in winter, can now become an attractive destination for tourists.
Work on the Z-Morh tunnel began in May 2015 and was expected to be completed by 2016–17. However, its work was completed in almost a decade. This is because ‘Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services’, the initial company implementing this project, had stopped its work in 2018 due to financial crisis.
The foundation stone of Z-Morh tunnel was laid in 2012
The foundation stone of this project was laid in October 2012 by the then Transport Minister C.P. Joshi had presented it in the presence of his then cabinet colleague Farooq Abdullah, then Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. For this, the contract was again invited in 2019 and in January 2020, the work of this project was handed over to the lowest bidder ‘APCO Infratech’.
