Z-Morh Tunnel

Z-Morh Tunnel

West portal of Z-Morh tunnel
Overview
Location	Sonamarg and Ganderbal, India
Coordinates	34°18′24″N 75°11′00″E
Status	Active
Route	NH1
Operation
Work begun	May 2015
Operator	NHIDCL
Traffic	Motor vehicles
Technical
No. of lanes	Two (one in each direction)

The Z-Morh Tunnel is a currently under-construction 6.5 km long road tunnel that will provide connection throughout all weather conditions between Srinagar and Kargil in the Union Territory of Ladakh, India. It is so named for the Z-shaped stretch of road between Sonamarg and Gagangir that the tunnel will replace.

The tunnel is being constructed near Gagangir in the Ganderbal District of the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and has great strategic importance for India as it will provide reliable, year-long access to the disputed borders with Pakistan. Without this tunnel, the road is vulnerable to dangerous snowfall and avalanches, which necessitates its closure for about seven months of the year. However, the Z-Morh Tunnel along with the Zoji-La Tunnel, located 22 km southeast towards Leh, will ensure uninterrupted connection between Srinagar and Kargil

The tunnel is hoped to increase social and economic development throughout the region and boost tourism in Sonamarg, which boasts attractions including the Thajiwas Glacier and activities such as whitewater rafting on the Sind River.

The completion of the Z-Morh tunnel will also significantly reduce the travel time between Srinagar and Leh, as commuters will no longer need to stay overnight in Kargil to compete the trip—the tunnel will ensure the entire stretch of road is accessible to vehicles throughout the year.

Features

• The Z-Morh tunnel will be a two-lane bi-directional road tunnel between Gagangir and Sonmarg starting at 69.5 km stone and ending at 81.3 km stone on NH 1.
• The tunnel itself is 6.5 km long and the length of the approach roads between the tunnel portals and NH 1 will be 6.05 km for both ends.
• The tunnel will be 10 m wide with the 7.5 m wide parallel escape tunnel to be used both in an emergency and as the railway tunnel.
• The tunnel is designed for the flow of 1,000 vehicles an hour at an approved maximum speed of 80 km per hour.
• The tunnel is located at an elevation of 2,637 meters (8,652 ft) above sea level.
• The total capital cost of the project was approved at ₹2,717 crore in the 53rd Meeting of PPPAC held in July 2012. This includes ₹36.48 crore for the cost of land, resettlement, rehabilitation, and other pre-construction activities.
• The tunnel will help keep the highway open the entire year.
• The western portal of the tunnel (towards Srinagar) is located in the village Rezan just after Gagangir at 34.295291°N 75.197063°E / 34.295291; 75.197063 and the eastern portal (towards Sonamarg) is located at village Shetkari at 34.305525°N 75.261309°E / 34.305525; 75.261309. There is a ventilation tunnel at Adit between the two portals.
• The tunneling is being built using the NATM tunneling method in view of the fragile Himalayan Geology.

Summers - East Portal

Development & Construction agency

Initially, the Z-Morh Tunnel was a 450 million dollar project being executed under PPP (DFBOT - Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer Mode) by Srinagar-Sonamarg Tunnelway Limited, an Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) owned company which was also the concessionaire for the project.

Earlier, the project was envisaged to be implemented by the BRO as owner and nodal agency. However, it has now been transferred to the NHIDCL for implementation.

ITNL (IL&FS Group entity) was appointed as EPC contractor, which in turn has appointed Apco - Titan (Joint Venture) as a construction contractor for the project. The work was suspended by the construction contractor in July 2018 due to the financial stress of the concessionaire (IL&FS Group).

The Project Authority (NHIDCL) foreclosed the concession the agreement/contract with Srinagar Sonamarg Tunnelway Limited and reinvented the bidding for the construction of the balance work in June 2019. The revised (Balance Work) Total Project Cost stands at ₹2,378 crore (~USD 340 Million). The work needs to be completed in 42 months from the appointed date.

In August of 2019, Apco Infratech emerged as the lowest bidder in the International Bidding Process, and in December 2019, the Project Authority issued a Letter of Award (LOA) for the project.

For the development and construction of this PPP project which is based on an Annuity-based concession (Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer- DBFOT), Apco Infratech has floated a project-specific Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)- Apco Shri Amarnathji Tunnelway Private Limited (ASATPL).

In January 2019, the Concession Agreement between ASATPL and authority was executed, and 24 June, 2020 was declared as the contract (concession) start date, and it is predicted that the project will be completed by June 2021.

Apco Infratech will be executing all of the EPC (Turnkey) work. M/s Amberg has been appointed as tunnel designer and the approach road design work has been given to Transys.

Status updates

• October 2012: Foundation stone laid. It was decided that BRO will build this tunnel connecting Gagangeer and Sonamarg.
• March 2013: Letter of award for execution handed over.
• May 2015: Work started.
• July 2018: About 22% of the work completed but the work stalled by the civil contractor (Apco- Titan JV) due to non-payment of bills and severe financial constraints faced by the concessionaire/developer IL&FS Group companies.
• October 2018: Government supersedes board of IL&FS group entities in view of “financial crisis”
• March 2019: IL&FS Group requested authority NHIDCL to foreclose the contract. NHIDCL accepted the request and the process of foreclosure initiated.
• June 2019: NHIDCL re-invited bid on DBFOT Annuity Basis for selection of new concessionaire and completion of balance work with 1 August 2019 as the bid submission date. The revised total project cost is estimated (for balance work) at ₹2,378 crore.
• July 2019: Pre-bid meeting was organized. The Authority expects to award/contract signing by October 2019 and work is scheduled to start in April 2020.
• August 2019: APCO Infratech wins the contract of ₹2,378 crore and will develop the tunnel (Balance Work) under BOT (annuity) mode.
• January 2020: APCO Infratech awarded the ₹2,379 crore contract. Tunnel to be built in 3.5 years.
• July 2020: Work restarted on July 15, 2020. As per the associated official, the tunnel to be ready by end of June 2021.