While the 6.5-km the Z-Morh tunnel is expected to be completed by next year, ahead of the target date of December 2023, the 14.15 km Zojila tunnel is also scheduled to be completed ahead of the target date of 2026, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited officials said.
The tunnel would reduce the travel time to the Ladakh region by 15-20 per cent and would come up close to the Atal tunnel near Rohtang Pass, reports Megha Manchanda.
A Village Defence Committee member patrols Mangnar village near the Line of Control in Poonch on Thursday, January 5, 2023, in the wake of the January 1-2 terror attacks at Dhangri village in Rajouri district.
The project holds strategic significance as Zojila Pass is situated at an altitude of 11,578 feet on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway and remains closed during winters due to heavy snowfall.
'If you are in a position to give employment to local people, you will find no terror attacks in your area.'
The 14.15 km tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity to Srinagar, Kargil and Leh.
The Border Roads Organisation kept the pass open beyond December 31 for the first time.
Eleven tourists, including two children, were killed in a road accident when the vehicle they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge on the Zojila pass near a popular north Kashmir health resort in Sonamarg on Sunday evening.
Zojila Pass, at a height of 11,516 feet above sea level, connects the picturesque Kashmir Valley with the cold Indus valley desert through the 434-km long Srinagar-Leh road.
The four young men from Chittur in Palakkad district who died in a car accident in Jammu and Kashmir on December 5 are remembered by their village as 'hardworking youth' who used to go on such trips everywhere.
The upper reaches of Kashmir valley witnessed the first snowfall of the season. The weather department has predicted bad weather for a few days. Snowfall at hill stations like Gulmarg and Pahalgam also brings the hope of revival of tourism in the area which has been severely hit for most of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
One hopes the new Lok Sabha will mark a break from a dismal tradition -- lack of interest in defence and security policies, argues Colonel Anil A Athale.
The Jammu and Kashmir police has rescued 350 people, who were stranded at the Zojila Pass, which connects Kashmir Valley to the cold desert region of Ladakh, due to heavy snowfall.
In its annual threat assessment presented before the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, the US intelligence community said the expanded military posture by both India and China along the disputed border elevates the risk of armed confrontation between the two nuclear powers that might involve direct threats to US persons and interests and calls for America's intervention.
Sources said the work has already started on this project and the new road will connect Manali with Leh near Nimu where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently visited during the ongoing conflict with China.
With Beijing remaining intransigent on the withdrawal of additional troops deployed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) since the deadly border clash in 2020 in eastern Ladakh, India's bilateral ties with China remained frozen in 2023 with no forward movement on the horizon despite several rounds of diplomatic and military talks.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said it is essential that "appropriate agreements between India and China of 1993 and 1996 are scrupulously followed".
People familiar with the development said Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane and the top commanders will review the country's combat readiness in eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a bitter standoff for 17 months.
'I told my commander that they were not militants, but full-fledged soldiers with machine guns.'
PM to launch works on Zojila tunnel, other infrastructure projects.
The national capital, parts of which reeled under heatwave conditions for the past few days, had some relief on Wednesday with strong winds and partly cloudy skies witnessed during the day.
Army sources see this trend as an attempt to widen the area of engagement on the border and pin down more Indian troops, reports RS Chauhan
'The India-China relationship has deteriorated greatly over these past two years and it is set to deteriorate further.'
Stars go for the loveliest holidays -- exotic locations with a lot of adventure thrown in. We bring you their travels in a special series.
'This reluctance to respond forcefully to Chinese PLA provocations and outright aggression has as much to do with Prime Minister Modi personally, as with the institutional mindset of the MEA or even the Indian Army.' 'They are scarred by the 1962 War and are still cowed by China.'
'It is because of the bravery of Colonel Santosh Babu and his men that we have not seen a violent escalation anywhere else along the LAC.'
DRDO plans to build a tank for use in the mountains and in the jungles.
'India is not going to accept whatever the Chinese say. That is not going to happen.'
'However, a lot of preparatory work would have to go in and China must be prepared to announce an end to the standoff by disengaging from the remaining areas along the LAC.'
On the shopping list: Light tanks, anti-tank guided missiles, UAVs, assault rifles, fighter aircraft.
'China would want to take a tougher stance against India forming those strategic partnerships and prevent Quad from becoming a military alliance.'
'We are not going to be threatened by China neither are we going to threaten China.'
'I am ashamed we are dealing with such adversaries.'
Our country needs massive investment in access of Rs 50 lakh crore in infrastructure to increase growth of GDP and integrate the nation with a network of roads, airports, railways, inland water and to provide good quality services to the people: FM
'They cannot use firearms.' 'They have to be restrained.' 'It is a game of patience and chess board moves.' 'It is not like India and Pakistan where bullets get fired and people get killed.'
'They have done in Eastern Ladakh what we did in Dokalam in 2017.'
'Those who say that conventional war is a thing of the past or that war is not an option, or that diplomacy alone can prevent war -- are wrong and we see that in Ukraine.'
Bodies of five of the deceased have been recovered so far, while efforts are on to find the remaining five persons, whose chances of survival are bleak, a police official said in Srinagar.
'Open conflict would be a disaster for both China and India.'
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