India will soon be home to the world's longest highway tunnel beneath the 16,580 ft high Shinku-La Pass, between Zanskar Valley in Ladakh and Lahaul Valley in Himachal Pradesh. As per the reports, the tunnel will be ready by 2025, and will provide all-weather connectivity between Ladakh and Himachal.
At this moment, the Atal Tunnel provides a safer alternative to the 13,000 ft high Rohtang Pass and is the world’s highest tunnel above 10,000 ft. The Nimmu-Padum-Darcha highway will be safer than the Manali-Leh and Srinagar-Leh highways as it does not pass near either the India-China or India-Pakistan borders. At present, people have to travel 101km from Manali to Darcha on Leh Road and then enter the Zanskar Valley through Shinku-La Pass.
