Zojila Tunnel to add to Army’s manoeuvrability against Pakistan, China

On June 9, when the 13.14-kilometre-long Zojila Tunnel witnessed a construction breakthrough, Muhammad Shafi Sagar, 50, and Ashiq Wazir, 30, unknown to each other, experienced both relief and sadness. Relief that they and their friends will, in a couple of years, be able to travel between Ladakh’s Drass district and the Kashmir Valley relatively free of the fear of dangerous terrain. Sadness, because they had both lost loved ones in the treacherous Zojila Pass.

The Zojila Tunnel by-passes the pass that runs across 30 km, cutting through the vertical, craggy Himalayan range in Drass. In the district’s Pandrass village, the mountains are parallel walls; there are no trees in sight at this altitude of 10,800 feet. In winter, the temperature drops to less than -25 degrees Celsius. In summer, the peaks are still surrounded by snow, but the melting glaciers relent. They spring out waterfalls from elevated mountain sides, adding to the roar of the Drass river below.

Shepherds from the plains converge on the high-altitude meadows dotted with wild grass and fresh-water bodies. The children are out in Pandrass High School, the sun shining brightly over them and their L-shaped, single-storey campus, but piercing gusts still make wearing a wind-blocker necessary. The night temperature continues to dropbelow freezing point, even in June.

It is in these conditions that 1,200 people, working from a camp site, have been building the Zojila Tunnel, which will connect Baltal in Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and Minamarg in Ladakh’s Drass, on National Highway-1. In the past, the pass was rife with tragedy.

“Shooting stones, snow slides, sudden temperature dips, and avalanches have killed travellers on the Zojila Pass for centuries. Kargil (in Ladakh) is full of stories of loss and disappearances,” says Sagar, a teacher at the Pandrass High School, who is also an author of a book on the culture of the Shina tribe in Ladakh.

Officials during the inspection and breakthrough of Zojila tunnel, at Minimarg, in Ladakh, Tuesday, June 9, 2026.

| Photo Credit:

Imran Nissar

Workers and technicians, mostly from India, but also from abroad, put in 10 million safe working hours. They grappled with the geological uncertainties of young mountains, rock classification changing every couple of hundred metres, and water pouring out of crevices. Built at a cost of ₹6,800 crore, the excavation was carried out between the altitudes of 2,900 metres on the Kashmir side to 3,310 metres on the Ladakh side. It is expected to be operational by 2028, and is designed to stay open through the year.

Danger zone

Sagar tells a story about his colleagues, from 33 years ago. In 1993, the Pandrass High School, located 13 km away from the Zojila Pass, closed for its usual five-month-long winter vacation in December. Two teachers, Shabir Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad, decided to return home to the Kashmir valley. The Union Territory of Ladakh was part of the Kashmir division of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir till 2019.

“Winter had already set in. The two teachers left for home. The sub-zero temperatures near the Zojila Pass killed them. One body was recovered after a week and another body has not been traced to date. Locals feel wild animals may have taken it,” says Sagar.

For Sagar, the tunnel has provided a new lease of life to people who live here. “When a local would fall sick and need specialised treatment, the nearest hospital was 279 km away, in Leh. Then the patient would be flown out to Delhi or Srinagar. With the tunnel, it’ll be just a 141-km drive to Srinagar,” says Sagar. The worries about vegetables, gas, and grocery stocks will be stories from the past.

This year on March 27, despite better road management and early warnings compared to the past, an avalanche killed seven persons and injured five others at the Zojila Pass. It was a sudden bright sun that triggered the rockfall around 12.30 p.m. One of the victims of the dread-inducing Zojila Pass was Akbar Ali Shadab, a 36-year-old resident of Tharumsa Pashkum village in Kargil. Shadab had just had a baby, six months before. He worked as a wildlife guard and was respected for his volunteerism.

“News flashed on social media about four vehicles being hit by an avalanche. We reached the spot in the evening. The rescue teams halted operations for the night. My uncle’s body was found around 6 the next morning,” says Wazir, the victim’s nephew.

Now, the conversation around Zojila is changing. Sajjad Kargili, in-charge of political affairs of the Jamiat Ul Ulama Isna Asharia, Kargil, an influential seminary, sees the tunnel as the “realisation of a decades-long dream of locals”. He refers to the many leaders who through the years have asked at both the State and Central levels for the tunnel.

Kargili was joined by senior members of the seminary on June 9 to pay tribute “to all those who dedicated their lives to this cause but could not live to witness this historic moment”. He remembers those who…