Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday dedicated the Sonamarg tunnel in Kashmir to the nation after inaugurating and inspecting it.
Union Minister for Surface Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also attended the inauguration event.
PM Modi met the engineers and workers, behind whose relentless toil all-weather connectivity was made possible. He motivated and listened patiently to the labourers while also seeking technical details regarding the Rs 2,700 crore tunnel.
PM Modi appreciated the hard work put in by everyone engaged in constructing the tunnel under most challenging weather and topography of the area.
The Prime Minister earlier arrived in a special aircraft at the technical area of Srinagar International Airport and took an Air Force helicopter to Neelgrad in the Sonamarg.
PM Modi reached the Neelgrad helipad and travelled in a cavalcade to the Gagangir area where he inaugurated the Sonamarg tunnel.
PM Modi will also address a public rally at the truck yard in Sonamarg. Hundreds of people, braving extreme cold, have already gathered at the Sonamarg public rally venue to listen to the PM. This is PM Modi’s first visit to the union territory after an elected government took office here.
Sonamarg tunnel will bypass the avalanche and heavy snowfall prone stretch of the Srinagar-Sonamarg highway during winter months.
The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) constructed the Z-Morh tunnel for Rs 2,700 crore by APCO Infratech Private Limited. The work on the construction of the tunnel was initiated in 2018. This would make Sonamarg an all-weather destination for tourists thereby providing employment opportunities to the youth, increasing trade and tourism and movement of traffic going to Ladakh region, Amarnath Yatra and businesses.
The tunnel is a 6.5 km long 2-lane road tunnel between Gagangair and Sonamarg in Ganderbal of Jammu and Kashmir. It was earlier called the Z-Morh tunnel because of the Z-shaped stretch of road that the tunnel has replaced (Z-Morh translates to "Z-turn" in English). It takes only 15 minutes to travel the 6.5 km long tunnel compared to hours over the zig-zag road up and down the hills.
The Zojila Tunnel being constructed across the Zojila Pass together with the Z-Morh tunnel will make the journey to the Ladakh region safer and possibly throughout the year.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah visited the Gagangir area of Ganderbal district on Saturday. "Visited Sonmarg today to review preparations for PM @narendramodi ji’s visit on Monday. The inauguration of the Z-morh tunnel will open Sonmarg to tourism all year round, Sonmarg will now be developed as a great ski resort. The local population will not have to leave in winter & the travel time to Kargil/Leh from Srinagar will also reduce," he wrote on X on January 11.
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