Local Kashmiris playing an important role in India's longest tunnel Zojila project

The tunnel is expected to be opened for defense use by 2024. After this, it will take only 30 minutes to cross the pass, which now takes three hours. Not only this, after completion the Rs 4,500 crore project will become the longest road tunnel in India.

Srinagar:The strategic work of Zojila Tunnel, which connects the Ladakh region to the rest of the country, is being done by hundreds of local people of Kashmir. Mega Engineering and Industries Limited (MEIL), a Hyderabad-based company that executed the project, says the expertise in tunneling by local laborers and engineers is helping them achieve their target ahead of schedule. Out of 1000 people working on the 13 km long tunnel, 900 people are from Jammu and Kashmir.

Baba Latif of Bandipora said, "I have learned through hard work and perseverance. Operating a machine like a hydraulic rig is very easy, not a difficult task for me. When I drill in the middle of the tunnel, there is no fear."

The workers say that they have experience after working in major railway, road and power projects in Jammu and Kashmir over the last 20 years.

Sartaj Ahmed of Anantnag, who installed the piping system in the tunnel, said, "We have expertise in tunneling projects. I can handle piping, motor usage etc. This is the fourth such project I am working on." More than half of the 200 engineers are also local. Geological expert Merazuddin said, "We face three geological formations. Right now we are in the Zojila formation which is the most challenging."

The project manager has praised the role of the local people in this for the speedy work of the workers.

Project manager Harpal Singh said, "I am totally trusting them. They are producing so much for me. Sometimes they even exceed my expectations. If I think six meter tunnel today If it is possible to build, then the next morning they say that we have made some seven meters of tunnel." 

It is the local activists who do not let the pace slow down, even during the harsh winters of Kashmir, who can ensure the early completion of India's strategic and coveted project.

Let us tell you that between Srinagar and Leh, one has to pass through the present Kargil district, where India fought the war in 1999. It is a challenge to cross the Zojila Pass at an altitude of 11,500 thousand feet. The pass, which is closed for 5 months a year due to snowfall, is also narrow and one has to get stuck in traffic jams every day in the dusty, high pass. 

With this project, Indian soldiers stationed on the Pakistan and China border will also be able to help in delivering goods etc. 

It is worth noting that due to the closure of Zojila Pass in winter, only Air Force aircraft can fly in Ladakh. The tunnel is expected to be opened for defense use by 2024. After this, it will take only 30 minutes to cross the pass, which now takes three hours. Not only this, after completion the Rs 4,500 crore project will become the longest road tunnel in India.