The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, has decided to construct the 6.5 km-long, two-lane bi-directional Z-Morh tunnel on the Srinagar-Leh section between km69.5 to km81.3 of National Highway 1. Leh is connected to the rest of the country via the Jammu-Srinagar-Zozila-Kargil-Leh and Manali-Sarchu-Leh routes, both of which are cut off for six to seven months during winter. The construction of the 6.05 km approaches, and of the new tunnel equipped with a parallel 6.5 km escape tunnel, will facilitate all weather connectivity in the area. The project will be constructed on a Build Own Transfer-BOT (Annuity) model with a project cost of about EUR384 million. Visit http://www.bro.nic.in/. 44/12.