Z-Morh Tunnel

• Z-Morh tunnel will be 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 be 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 the ends.
• The tunnel will be 10 m wide with the 3.5 km wide parallel escape tunnel to be used in emergency, escape tunnel will also act as the railway tunnel.
• The tunnel is designed for flow of 1,000 vehicles an hour at an approved maximum speed of 80 km per hour.
• The tunnel is located at elevation of 2,637 metres (8,652 ft) above sea level.
• The total capital cost of the project was approved at Rs.27.17 billion in 53rd Meeting of PPPAC held in July 2012. This includes Rs.36.48 crore for the cost of land, resettlement and 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 at 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 NATM tunneling method in view of fragile Himalayan Geology.

• Oct 2012: Foundation stone laid. It was decided that BRO will build this tunnel connecting Gagangeer and Sonamarg. [1] [2]
• Mar 2013: Letter of award for execution handed over.
• May 2015: Work started.
• Aug 2016: Project taken away from BRO and handed over to current executing agency IL&FS.
• Dec 2016: 5% work completed.
• Jun 2017: 200 m ventilation duct build till June 2017. Target completion date is April 2020.[3][4]
• Oct 2017: Work progressing at slow pace.[5]
• May 2018: Completion date advanced to late 2019[6] but the tunnel may not open even in 2020.[7]
• July 2018: About 22% work completed but work stalled by the civil contractor ( Apco- Titan JV) due to non payment of bills and severe financial constraint faced by the concessionaire /developer IL&FS Group companies.
• October 2018: Government supersede 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 process of foreclosure initiated.
• June 2019: NHIDCL reinvited bid on DBFOT Annuity Basis for selection of new concessionaire and completion of balance work with 1 August 2019 as bid submission date. The revised total project cost is estimated (for balance work) at Rs.23.78 billion.
• July 2019: Pre-bid meeting was organised. The Authority expects to award/contract signing by October 2019 and work is scheduled to start from April 2020.
• Aug 2019: APCO Infratech wins the contract of INR 2378/- Crore and will develop the tunnel ( Balance Work) under BOT (annuity) mode.[8]
• Jan 2020: APCO Infratech awarded the 2379 Crore INR contract. Tunnel to be built in 3.5 years.[9]
• June 2020 - Authority declared start of contract from June 24,2020.

Work progress and Mobilization is affected by Covid -19 spread.

Initially it was USD 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 is also concessionaire for the project.

Earlier, the project was envisaged to be implemented by BRO as owner and nodal agency however now it has been transferred to NHIDCL for implementation.[10]

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

August 2019 - Apco Infratech wins the contract ( Balance Work) to develop & construct the tunnel.The revised ( Balance Work) Total Project Cost is INR 23.78 BIllion ( approx USD 340 Million). The work need to be completed in 42 months from the appointed date.

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

Apco Infratech will be executing entire EPC ( Turnkey) work.

June 24,2020 is declared as contract start date.