Iranian engineer Yousef Eshaghpour Rahimabadi is helping build one of India's most iconic infrastructure symbols amid a conflict in his nation where civilian infrastructure has been battered by the US and Israeli airstrikes.
Yousef, a tunnelling expert, is the authority engineer at the Zojila Tunnel. He is the team leader of a joint venture of Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Pvt Limited (ICT) and Anadjiwala Infra Advisory Pvt Limited (AIAPL), the supervising engineers overseeing the project. Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited is constructing the tunnel.
Speaking to reporters in Minimarg near Zojila, Yousef was asked about his role in helping build an engineering marvel in India while his own country was under assault.
Downplaying the link, he said engineers were like soldiers tasked to uplift the lives of the people. "We are executing this project for the welfare of the people and the Indian nation. All I can say is I am honoured as it is a project of national pride," he said.
Iran is considered an expert in tunnelling and underground infrastructure, countering sophisticated Western weaponry, including the world’s largest conventional bunker busters.
Yousef has studied structural engineering at Karnataka University, Dharwad. It is not clear whether he gained expertise in the field while working in Iran. Yousef said he was married in India and described himself as an Indo-Iranian. He also called India his "second home".
Yousef said he was associated with projects in other places where working conditions were better but he preferred Zojila because of the challenges involved. “It is an iconic project, a national pride. It is Asia’s longest bi-directional single tube at this height — close to 11,000 feet. You can say (an altitude) of say about 3.5km," he said.
The team leader said they had to brave temperatures plummeting to -35°Celsius on the Kargil side. He said the area receives heavy snowfall and is prone to avalanches, leading to the closure of the road for months every year.