Tag: darcha

World’s longest highway tunnel above 16,000ft beneath 16,580ft high Shinku-la pass will be ready by 2025 that will provide Zanskar valley of Ladakh an all-weather connectivity, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) chief Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry said at Shinkula top. After attending the Golden Handshake Ceremony on occasion of opening of Nimmu-Padum-Darcha road amidst fresh snowfall, and in the middle of 5 to 6ft high walls of snow, the director general border roads (DGBR) Chaudhary said this new road, which has now opened for traffic movement, will be officially opened for all kinds of vehicles as widening and blacktopping of the highway will be completed in three years along with completion of the 4.25 km-long Shinkula tunnel. He said formation cutting of the remaining stretch between Padum and Nimmu in Ladakh will also be completed soon. He said a new Road Construction Company (RCC) will be established in the area. Chaudhary was quoted as saying: “The Shinkula pass tunnel will be 4.25 kilometer in length at altitude of about 16,000 foot. It will be the highest and longest tunnel at this altitude in the entire world. He said work on construction of the tunnel will start in July or August this year. The exercise to build the Nimmu-Darcha road had started 20 years back but the work faced many technical glitches. This new road is going to prove boon not only to the army but also it will bring positive revolution in the Zanskar valley of Ladakh.” He said it used to take many days to travel from Zanskar to Himachal in the past but now the travel time has been reduced to only a few hours. He said the travel time will further be reduced after widening and blacktopping of the highway. DGBR said the Yojak Project of BRO, which