THE DECISION

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi, today gave its go-ahead to the 14.2-

km long tunnel project in Jammu and Kashmir to provide all-

weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh

• Cabinet Committee on Security is chaired by the Prime

Minister of India

MCQ FOR YOU GUYS

•Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs is headed

by

A. The Home Minister of India

B. Home Secretary

C. Prime Minister of India

D. No such committee exists as of 2018

Answer is A

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi approved the construction of the

strategic Zojila Pass tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir at an

estimated cost of Rs 6,089 crore.

THE ISSUE• The famous Zojila pass is situated between Baltal (on Sonamarg

side) and Matayan (on Drass side) at an attitude of 11000 ft from

sea level.

• Heavy snowfall and avalanches during winter on this stretch cuts off the

Ladakh region from rest of the country for more than six months from

November to June every year.

• Ladakh with its long borders both with China and Pakistan gets isolated

from the mainland, forcing the people to live on the principle of survival

of the fittest

• All kinds of normal activities including developmental works come to a

standstill, which in turn is one of the main causes of backwardness of

the region.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

• The project will reduce the travel time between Srinagar and

Leh to 15 minutes from the current 3.5 hours with providing

all-weather connectivity to the region. Zojila Pass tunnel will

be Asia’s longest 2-lane bi-directional pass.

• Its construction period will be seven years because of a very

difficult terrain where in some areas temperature dips to

minus 45 degree celsius. The tunnel shall be an engineering

marvel as first of its kind in such a geographical area.

THE PROJECT

TIMELINE

Oct 2013: Cabinet approves the road tunnel project.

May 2017: four private players bid for the 10,000 Crore Indian Rupees project namely L&T, ILFS, Jaypee Infratech and Reliance Infra.

Jun 2017: Contract to be awarded to the bidders by June end and work to start in August 2017.

Jul 2017: IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd, the firm which developed Chenani-Nashri Tunnel emerged as lowest cost bidder for the tunnel. It quoted cost of ₹4,899 crore (US$768 million), and a period of 7 years to construct tunnel.

Jan 2018: Union Cabinet approves Asia's largest 14.2 km bi-directional tunnel to be build at cost of ₹6,809 crore (US$1 billion) including land acquisition cost. Tunnel to be ready in seven years.

COST

•The civil construction cost of the project is Rs

4,899.42 crore. The total capital cost of the

project is Rs 6,808.69 crore. It includes the cost

towards land acquisition, resettlement and

rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities

as well as maintenance and operation cost of

tunnel for four years.

CONSTRUCTION

• The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Road

Transport and Highways (MoRT&H) through the National

Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation

Limited (NHIDCL)

• The project will further increase the employment potential for

the local labourers for the project activities. On its completion,

it will lead to enormous boost in employment as local

businesses get linked to National market and the beautiful

region is able to receive round the year tourist traffic.

THE KARGIL ISSUE

• Defense forces have to face a hard time ensuring supplies to

border posts during winters. This pass is most strategic for the

entire Kargil sector which has seen intrusion and war in the

past.