Skip linksSkip to Content
play
Live
Navigation menu
  • News
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • US & Canada
    • Latin America
    • Europe
    • Asia Pacific
  • Middle East
  • Explained
  • Opinion
  • Sport
  • Video
    • Features
    • Economy
    • Human Rights
    • Climate Crisis
    • Investigations
    • Interactives
    • In Pictures
    • Science & Technology
    • Podcasts
play
Live

In Pictures

Gallery|In Pictures

India builds tunnels to link Kashmir Valley with strategic Ladakh

Ladakh shares de facto borders with Pakistan and China and depends on air supplies for about six months of the year.

A worker inside the Nilgrar tunnel in the Baltal area, northeast of Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir. [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
Published On 4 Oct 20214 Oct 2021
facebooktwitterwhatsappcopylink

High in a rocky Himalayan mountain range in the Indian-administered Kashmir, hundreds of people are working on an ambitious project to drill tunnels and construct bridges to connect the Kashmir Valley with Ladakh, a cold, desert region isolated for half of the year because of massive snowfall.

Strategically important Ladakh shares de facto borders with Pakistan and China and currently depends on air supplies for about six months of the year.

Officials say a 6.5-km (four-mile) tunnel, the first of four, is already complete and will make the resort town of Sonamarg accessible during the winter months for the first time.

Sonamarg marks the end of conifer-clad mountains before Ladakh begins across the rocky Zojila mountain pass.

The $932m project’s last tunnel, about 14km (nine miles) long, will bypass the challenging Zojila pass and connect Sonamarg with Ladakh.

Officials say it will be India’s longest and highest tunnel at 11,500 feet (3,485 metres).

“It’s not like any other construction work. It’s great learning,” said one of the workers, Tariq Ahmed Lone, as he helped at a drilling machine.

Indian and Chinese soldiers have been engaged in a sometimes violent standoff in the Karakoram mountains in Ladakh for more than 16 months along their de facto border, called the Line of Actual Control.

Both the countries have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers there, backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.

Indian military planners view the tunnel project as extremely important for Ladakh. Experts say it will provide logistics flexibility to the military and give it operational and strategic mobility.

Advertisement

Politicians also see an opportunity in the project.

The Zojila part of the tunnel is to be functional in 2026, but India’s road transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari, said on a visit to the project site on Tuesday that he hopes the work will be finished before a 2024 general election.

“It’s a challenge I know, but I am confident they can do it on time,” Gadkari said. “Obviously, we would want it to be finished before the elections.”

Nikhil Kumar, wearing a blue helmet, helps other workers to fix an iron rod as they prepare a machine for rock bolting at the entrance to the Nilgrar tunnel. [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
Advertisement
Excavators work to clear rocks and boulders at the entrance of the tunnel. [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
Mohammad Saleem, a drilling machine operator, is covered with dust at the entrance to the Nilgrar tunnel. [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
The ambitious project to drill tunnels and construct bridges aims to connect the Kashmir Valley with Ladakh, a cold, desert region isolated for half of the year because of massive snowfall. [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
The $932m project’s last tunnel will bypass the challenging Zojila pass and connect Sonamarg with Ladakh. Officials say it will be India’s longest and highest tunnel at 11,500 feet (3,485 metres). [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
Indian military planners view the tunnel project as extremely important for Ladakh. Experts say it will provide logistics flexibility to the military and give it operational and strategic mobility. [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
Advertisement
The Zojila part of the tunnel is to be functional in 2026, but India's road transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari, said on a visit to the project site on Tuesday that he hopes the work will be finished before a 2024 general election. [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
Indian transport minister Nitin Gadkari, centre, accompanied by his wife, looks at the Zojila tunnel in Baltal, northeast of Srinagar. [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
Vehicles run through the Zojila pass northeast of Srinagar. [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]


  • About

    • About Us
    • Code of Ethics
    • Terms and Conditions
    • EU/EEA Regulatory Notice
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Sitemap
    • Work for us
  • Connect

    • Contact Us
    • User Accounts Help
    • Advertise with us
    • Stay Connected
    • Newsletters
    • Channel Finder
    • TV Schedule
    • Podcasts
    • Submit a Tip
  • Our Channels

    • Al Jazeera Arabic
    • Al Jazeera English
    • Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
    • Al Jazeera Mubasher
    • Al Jazeera Documentary
    • Al Jazeera Balkans
    • AJ+
  • Our Network

    • Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
    • Al Jazeera Media Institute
    • Learn Arabic
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights
    • Al Jazeera Forum
    • Al Jazeera Hotel Partners

Follow Al Jazeera English:

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • instagram-colored-outline
  • rss
Al Jazeera Media Network logo
© 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network