Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually carried out the first blast and began the Shinkun La Tunnel project in Ladakh’s Kargil on Friday.
The ambitious project, a 4.1-kilometer-long twin-tube tunnel at an altitude of approximately 15,800 feet on the Nimu-Padum-Darcha Road, would provide all-weather connectivity from Himachal to Leh and beyond.
With cross-passages every 500 meters, the tunnel is expected to take at least two years to complete.
Once completed, the Shinkun La Tunnel will be the world’s highest tunnel.
Strategic significance
The Shinkun La tunnel would be an engineering marvel and a strategic move to boost India’s regional defense capabilities. It is part of India’s ambitious plan to improve connectivity in its high-altitude border areas, particularly along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
The Shinkun La Tunnel is expected to reduce India’s “border infrastructure differential” with China, a major concern for the government in recent years. With military confrontation in eastern Ladakh ongoing for the last four years, the tunnel will prove crucial in mobilizing troops and moving heavy weapons along the northern borders with China.
The project is also expected to foster economic and social development in the region.
The Shinkun La tunnel, approved by the PM-led cabinet committee on security last year, costs ₹1,681 crore and is being constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
The launch of the Shinkun La Tunnel project comes as Prime Minister Modi visited Ladakh to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Kargil Vijay Diwas. Mr. Modi paid tribute to the martyrs of the 1999 Kargil War.