Shinku-La Tunnel is a upcoming motorable tunnel under 16,580ft high Shinku-la pass between Himachal’s Lahaul valley and Ladakh’s Zanskar valley in Northern India.
The tunnel was given principal approval in 2021 but the Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (February 15, 2023) gave a final nod to the project.
Ministry of Defence through Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is building Darcha-Shinkula-Padum-Nimu as an alternative road to connect Ladakh with Himachal Pradesh. This will be the third highway connecting Ladakh with mainland after Srinagar-Kargil-Leh and Manali-Sarchu-Leh highways.
The Manali-Padum-Nimu road or Darcha-Padum-Nimu road will become all-weather after the completion of the Shinku-la tunnel. This will be the safest and shortest road to reach Leh.
As Atal Tunnel, Rohtang, has bypassed 13,050ft high Rohtang pass, Shinkula pass will be the only pass on this new road. Unlike Manali-Sarchu-Leh highway which has many mountain passes, the Darcha-Padum-Nimu road has only one pass — Shinkula pass.
The Defence Ministry is concentrating more on this new road as it will facilitate in military movement even in winter months. Otherwise, both Manali-Leh and Srinagar-Leh highways get blocked following heavy snowfall for five to seven months a year.
Currently, Atal tunnel is India's longest highway tunnel above 10,000ft. After completion, Shinku-la tunnel will be the longest high altitude highway tunnel in the world.
Length of the Darcha-Shinkula pass – Padum-Nimu highway will be 297 KM. Nimu is 35km from Leh and 185km from Kargil. Darcha is 100km from Manali (via Atal Tunnel) along Manali-Sarchu-Leh highway.
Darcha to Padum stretch was connected last year in September when the Discover Leh Ladakh team became first to drive on this stretch. Nearly 35KM road is still to be made to connect Padum with Nimu. About 100km of the road has been made double-lane.
The tunnel will be 4.1 km in length. While Darcha-Shinkula road is over 90 per cent complete, Padum-Shinku la road, which is open to the jeeps, is 50 per cent complete. The entire road is expected to be built and double-laned by 2024-25.
The Shinku La tunnel is aimed to provide all-weather road connectivity to Ladakh and this will be the shortest route to the border areas of the Union territory