Zojila & Z-Morh tunnels approved by UPA II, claims Prof Soz

Srinagar, May 19: Welcoming the laying of foundation of Zojila tunnel on Srinagar-Leh national highway, to make it an all weather road by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, senior Congress leader and former Union minister Prof Saifuddin Soz said this and Z-Morh tunnel were envisaged and approved by UPA-II.

'PM Modi's inauguration of Zojila Tunnel is a good measure and a good news for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially for the people of Leh and Kargil regions,' Prof Soz claimed in a statement here.

However, he said at the same time, it is an occasion to remind the people that the project was approved by UPA-II through a Cabinet decision on September 14, 2012.

'Minister of Road, Transport and Highways C P Joshi had taken up a meeting on March 28, 2012 in which I was also present, apart from Lt Gen S Ravi Shankar, J N Singh, Member (Finance), NHAI, Vinod Kumar, DDG, BRO, Chaman Lal, Chief Engineer (P-I), Sanjeev Kumar, SE (P-I), Col KS Malladi, Director B&T, DGBR and A K Gupta, Director Contract,' Prof Soz recalled.

He said in the meeting, it was decided that the BRO would provide the total Project cost for Zojila and Z-Morh tunnels before March 31, 2012.

'To the best of my knowledge, all formalities were completed within that time frame and the Cabinet approved the project on September 14, 2012. All this was happening because of personal interest in the project taken by AICC President Rahul Gandhi,' he claimed.

The Cabinet had approved an expenditure of Rs 9000 crore for Zojila and Rs 3000 crore for Z-Morh Tunnel.

Prof Soz said it was Mr Gandhi, who inaugurated Z- Morh Tunnel on October 4, 2012. 'I was one of a dozen National and State public figures present on that occasion,' he clamied.

It was a normal practice those days for the incumbent Government to make a reference to what had been envisaged and approved by the predecessor Government, he said

He alleged that now, the practice is different as the hype is that nothing worth mention has been done in the past, since Independence.