Overview
- Project leaders report the tunnel has completed major excavation and is days away from the final breakthrough that completes the main tunnelling phase.
- Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd. (MEIL) is building the tunnel for NHIDCL using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method and expects the Union road transport minister to attend the breakthrough ceremony.
- The main tunnel measures 13.153 km and sits at about 11,578 feet, while the full project covers 30.894 km including two Nilgrar tunnels, three bridges, seven cut‑and‑cover sections, a 450‑metre snow gallery and long ventilation and emergency shafts.
- Engineering complexity includes India’s longest vertical shaft at 474.3 metres and variable mountain geology that required continuous geotechnical monitoring, a base camp for more than 1,100 staff and extensive drilling and heavy machinery.
- Once commissioned, the tunnel will provide year‑round road access between Srinagar and Ladakh, easing transport for civilians, trade and tourists and improving military logistics after years of seasonal isolation and harsh winter conditions that have caused avalanches and prolonged closures.