DUSHANBE, August 24, 2011, Asia-Plus — The Istiqlol Tunnel is expected to be fully finished until November this year, Minister of Transport Nizom Hakimov told reporters in Dushanbe on January 24.
“Under the additional agreement between our ministry and Iranian company, Sangab, the tunnel must be fully finished until November 2012,” the minister said, noting that more than 100 builders are currently working to complete the tunnel.
We will recall that the sides agreed last June to allocate 3 million U.S. dollars each to fully complete the construction of the tunnel.
The Istiqlol Tunnel, better known among the population as the Anzob Tunnel, has been built with assistance of Iranian specialists. The total project cost was estimated at 40 million US dollars, and Iran has provided US$10 million in a form of grant and extended a preferential loan worth US$21 million to Tajikistan. The tunnel makes the highway from Dushanbe to Khujand open for traffic the whole year round and drops the transit time by four to five hours. An official opening ceremony of the Istiqlol Tunnel was held in July 2006; however, there are still some uncompleted works.
The Istiqlol Tunnel is a five kilometer long road tunnel located 80 kilometers northwest of Dushanbe. It connects the Tajik capital to Tajikistan’s second largest city, Khujand. It is also a transit route between Dushanbe and Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent. Previously, especially during the cold seasons, a lack of a direct link between northern and southern Tajikistan led to disruptions of commerce.
