Zojila Tunnel To Ladakh: What It Means For Travel To Ladakh And The Fragile Himalayas

Few infrastructure projects in India since the turn of the 21st century match the grand scale and ambition of the Zojila Tunnel.In 2013, the Indian government decided to build the all-weather Zojila and Z-Morh tunnels in the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh regions to improve accessibility to the two union territories and as a matter of national security. These two projects are part of 31 tunnels being built across the region that fortify India’s border infrastructure.At 3,528 m above sea level, the Zojila mountain pass stretches across the Jammu and Kashmir district of Ganderbal and the Ladakh district of Kargil. It connects the Kashmir valley to its west with the Dras and Suru valleys to its northeast and the Indus valley further east.The habitat here is that of an alpine mountain range which becomes an ecotone zone—a transition area between two plant communities—between the Greater Himalaya and Trans-Himalayan regions.Upon completion in September 2026, the Zojila Tunnel will be Asia’s longest bidirectional passageway, at about 13.1 km. The two-lane road tunnel will provide year-round connectivity to the region, reduce travel time from over three hours to a quick 15- to 30-minute drive, boost tourism and trade to the union territories, and enhance the logistics of the Indian Armed Forces.As of March 2025, the project had reached 70 per cent of completion with a total cost of INR 6,809.69 crore.Thus, this monumental project is much more than just a tunnel—it is a transformative piece of strategic, economic and social infrastructure that signals India’s engineering ambition and commitment to integrating its most remote and sensitive regions.What does it take to execute such a project, and how does it impact the biodiversity and ecology of a region that is weathering the effects of climate breakdown due to a loss of glaciers and wild habitats? Outlook Traveller spoke to experts to find out.The Challenges Of Constructing The Zojila TunnelCompleting a project like the Zojila Tunnel involves navigating an extraordinary set of logistical and geological challenges, says Manoj Verman, a top tunnelling and rock excavation expert who has been nicknamed “the Tunnel Man of India” for his long-standing commitment to the field.For starters, the Zojila region faces heavy snowfall, blizzards and sub-zero temperatures, with the mercury often dipping below –30°C to –45°C in winter. For nearly half the year, the site remains snowbound, making transport of materials, manpower mobilisation and equipment operation highly constrained.“Working at altitudes of around 3,500 m affects human performance and machinery efficiency, so the health and acclimatisation of workers and crews becomes a major concern. Construction activity is drastically reduced during winter, leading to compressed working schedules that require efficient planning and round-the-clock work during favourable months,” Verman says.“The Himalayan geology is fragile and seismically active. The tunnel alignment encounters variable rock strata, including schists, clayey zones, faulted segments and water-bearing strata. These create unpredictable excavation conditions, high deformation potential, and frequent rock falls or collapses during tunnelling.“Furthermore, the tunnel is being constructed using the philosophy of New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM), which requires continuous geotechnical monitoring and adaptive support strategies based on changing ground behaviour. This requires planning and executing adequate ventilation, drainage, fire suppression systems and escape provisions in a space-constrained underground environment.“Finally, the equipment, explosives, concrete and construction materials must be transported through narrow, treacherous roads that are often exposed to landslides and avalanches. The remoteness of the location complicates supply chains, power availability, worker housing and emergency medical support.”The Myriad Benefits Of The Zojila TunnelBut the pay-off will be immense. Travellers will no longer need to worry about sudden weather changes, landslides or road closures due to snow and ice, meaning journeying to the region will be safer.With accessibility no longer restricted by season, Ladakh and nearby areas could see a significant increase in tourist inflow during the shoulder and winter months. This could lead to new types of tourism—such as cultural tourism in lesser-explored months—beyond the typical summer rush.The tunnel will also facilitate the transport of goods, medical supplies and essential services to Ladakh. For local residents, this means more reliable access to markets, healthcare and education, as well as a general rise in mobility and opportunity.However, there are two lingering misconceptions that people seem to ignore about the Zojila Tunnel, says Verman.“Firstly, people often overlook the fact that Ladakh shares sensitive borders with both Pakistan and China, and during winters, the region has historically remained cut off from the rest of India due to snow closures at Zojila. The tunnel addresses this by ensuring year-round logistical and military connectivity, which is critical for both defence preparedness and rapid mobilisation,” he says.“Another misconception is about the pace of construction. Given the challenging terrain and climatic extremes, progress may seem slow to the casual observer, but in reality, building a 14-km tunnel at 3,500 m altitude, through geologically unpredictable Himalayan rock, is a feat of perseverance, not delay.”The challenges are vast but workable. But as the Zojila Tunnel nears completion next year, is there an environmental cost to all of this?The Ecological Impact Of The Zojila TunnelSince the 1970s, the Indian government has required an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) to study the effect of a proposed activity or project on the environment. The EIA is a decision-making tool that compares various project alternatives and identifies one that represents the best combination of economic and environmental costs and benefits. It helps to identify the possible environmental effects of the proposed project, suggests measures to mitigate adverse effects and predicts whether there will be significant adverse environmental effects, even after the mitigation is implemented.As of 2025, certain projects in India are exempted from EIA requirements, particularly those of strategic and defence importance, including highway projects located within 100 km of the Line of Control.Two of the main agencies involved in the construction of the Zojila Tunnel project, the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC), an Australia-based company, and the National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL), conducted an EIA into the air quality, noise level, surface and ground water quality, and soil quality of the affected regions, as well as an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) to address the baseline conditions, impacts along approach roads, forest diversion and wildlife interactions with their mitigation measures. Their research did not require Environmental Clearance under the EIA Notification (2006), but they were granted the necessary forest clearance processes, including the diversion of forest land.According to Niazul Hassan Khan, a PhD candidate researching the ecology of the endangered Himalayan brown bear in the Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, the Zojila Tunnel is likely to have “little impact on the biodiversity of the regions as after the functioning of the tunnel.”“I think with the formation of Zojila Tunnel, the wildlife above ground will have little to no use of roads,” he says.The impacted areas, which include the Minamarang, Gumri and Baltal regions, make up a fragile ecosystem which is drastically impacted by climate breakdown.The region is home to wild roses, wild tulips, Himalayan foxtail lilies, sagebrush and mugwort plants, among other flora, as well as unique animals and birds like the Himalayan brown bear, Himalayan wolf, snow leopard, red fox, musk deer, long-tailed marmot, Ladakh toad, the bearded vulture, the Himalayan griffon, rosefinches, kestrels and more.In February 2023, residents of the Ganderbal district complained that landslides in the district had occurred due to road construction and widening for the Zojila Tunnel project.At the time, officials said they would investigate the cause of the disaster that affected at least five residential houses and a few cow sheds in Rezin village. The event also blocked the Srinagar-Sonamarg-Leh highway.Khan says that the biggest threat to the ecology and the environment of the Indian Himalayan Region is a lack of proper EIA before sanctioning any developmental projects, which “should be mandatory.” But the assumption that building infrastructure and protecting the environment are always at odds with one another is wrong.“In fact, they can be balanced with careful planning and tools like the EIA. Environmental safeguards are not problems; they are smart ways to save capital that make projects last longer,” he says.“Even though they might appear devoid of value, arid regions often have a lot of ecological value, and ignoring this can cause damage that can't be fixed. Environmental voices don't want to stop development; they want to make sure it is informed, resilient and open to everyone. Public input and flexible environmental planning are important, not bureaucratic red tape.”Verman says that recent disasters like the 2013 Kedarnath floods and the 2021 Chamoli avalanche have pushed engineers and policymakers to reassess earlier approaches and give far more weight to resilience, redundancy and ecological fragility in their designs. But even he recognises that there is a long way to go.“Ecological considerations are sometimes overridden under political or economic pressures. Mitigation efforts must be strengthened and institutionalised, not just documented. Engineers alone cannot solve this; it requires a joint commitment from governments, regulators, local communities and civil society,” he says.In A Historic Move, The Shipki La Pass In Himachal Pradesh Is Now Open For Domestic Travellers