Light at the end of the tunnels: India set for big security, transport boost

The opening of the Z-Morh tunnel at Sonamarg in Jammu & Kashmir by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, along with the likely completion next year of the Zoji La tunnel that lies ahead, will provide vital all-weather connectivity between Srinagar and Leh, boosting military mobility and logistics support for deployed forces in the Ladakh sector as well as tourism in Ladakh's back country, officials aware of the development said.

- Rahul Singh and Soumya Chatterjee

Around 60% of work on the Zoji La tunnel has been completed, and it is expected to be ready by September 2026, the officials said.

It was at Zoji La that the Indian Army scored one of its finest victories in the 1947-48 J&K campaign. It took back the 11,600-ft pass from Pakistan in November 1948, in a bold assault called Operation Bison. Tanks were used in war at those heights for the first time anywhere in the world then.

The traditional Srinagar-Leh axis is one of the two existing routes to Leh -- the other being the Manali-Leh road. Neither is currently all-weather, and both remain shut for five to six months in the winter, presenting a logistics nightmare both for the armed forces and the civil administration, and impeding socioeconomic development of the Ladakh region, the officials said.

India's infrastructure push to provide year-round connectivity to the Ladakh region will get another boost in three years when the route from Manali to Leh via the Nimmu-Padam-Darcha axis will be functional, the officials added. This will be the third route to Leh.

In July 2024, Modi carried out the "first blast" for the Shinku La tunnel in Ladakh, aimed at providing all-weather connectivity from Manali to Leh via the Nimmu-Padam-Darcha axis. The "first blast" was significant as it marked the beginning of the tunnel's construction by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which is at the centre of India's forward infrastructure push.

The tunnel at 15,800 ft, expected to be ready in 2028, will be the world's highest, surpassing China's Mila tunnel at 15,590 ft.