MEIL Zozilla project enters key phase

Hyderabad: The team of Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL) has achieved a breakthrough in the all-weather Zojila Tunnel construction in the Jammu Kashmir-Ladakh region. The daylight streamed into tube-2 of Tunnel-1 on Monday.

The city-based infrastructure company was awarded the All-Weather Connectivity Project (Zojila) connecting Kashmir valley to Ladakh in October, 2020, on engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) mode. The length of the project is 32 km and is divided into two parts.

Part I of the project 18 km connects Sonamarg and Baltal, having major bridges and twin tunnels. Tunnel T1, having two tubes the Tube 1 P2 P4- length is 472 m and Tube 1 P1 P3 is 448 m. The tube1 was daylighted on Diwali (November 4) while tube2 daylighted on Monday.

"MEIL has begun the project work in the month of May 2021, after the construction of access roads. Tunnelling through the Himalayas is always a daunting task, but it has bored both tunnels with the highest standards of safety, quality, and speed within a time schedule," the company said in a statement. "Next, twin tubes having a length of 2 km each where work is in full swing shall achieve daylighting in the month of April 2022. Works at Zojila Main Tunnel, which is 13.3 km long, are also in full swing. MEIL has achieved 600 m advance from Ladakh, and 300 m advance from Kashmir's side. Completion of the project is scheduled by September 2026."