{"id":95197,"date":"2026-06-09T16:51:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T11:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/?p=95197"},"modified":"2026-06-09T16:52:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T11:22:45","slug":"zojila-tunnel-breakthrough-golden-chapter-in-indias-infrastructure-history-nitin-gadkar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/zojila-tunnel-breakthrough-golden-chapter-in-indias-infrastructure-history-nitin-gadkar\/","title":{"rendered":"Zojila Tunnel breakthrough &#8220;golden chapter&#8217; in India&#8217;s infrastructure history: Nitin Gadkar"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>Ganderbal, June 9 (KNO): Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday termed the Zojila Tunnel breakthrough a &#8220;golden chapter&#8221; in India&#8217;s infrastructure history, saying it will serve as a lifeline for Ladakh and Jammu &amp; Kashmir by ensuring all-weather connectivity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Addressing a press conference after the ceremony, Gadkari, per news agency\u2014Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said the 14-km tunnel is among the country&#8217;s most significant infrastructure projects, built to global safety standards despite challenging terrain and harsh weather.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He praised engineers, workers and agencies involved in the project, noting construction was carried out at an altitude of around 3,000 metres in sub-zero temperatures, with nearly 80% of the workforce comprising local labour.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Gadkari said the project, prioritised after 2014, was executed successfully after multiple failed tender attempts earlier, and at a significantly lower cost than originally estimated.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting its impact, he said the tunnel will boost tourism, trade, economic activity and strategic mobility in the border region by ensuring seamless connectivity between Kashmir and Ladakh.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Union Minister also announced a series of new infrastructure projects for Ladakh, including the Rs 1,000-crore Leh South Bypass (48 km) and Rs 200-crore Leh North Bypass (7.6 km) to ease congestion and improve connectivity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He said work on the 2.6-km Fatu La twin-tube tunnel, estimated at Rs 1,200 crore, will begin within three months, while the Rs 3,500-crore Tela Pass Tunnel project is in the final DPR stage, with contracts likely before March next year.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Gadkari announced the widening and upgradation of the Srinagar-Gumri road to further strengthen connectivity and complement the Zojila Tunnel.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He reiterated the Centre&#8217;s commitment to expanding infrastructure in the Himalayan region and ensuring year-round access to remote border areas\u2014(KNO)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ganderbal, June 9 (KNO): Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday termed the Zojila Tunnel breakthrough a &ldquo;golden chapter&rdquo; in India&rsquo;s infrastructure history, saying it will serve as a lifeline for Ladakh and Jammu &amp; Kashmir by ensuring all-weather connectivity. &nbsp; Addressing a press conference after the ceremony, Gadkari, per news [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95197"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95202,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95197\/revisions\/95202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}