Prime Minister Narendra Modi today cleared a 4.1-kilometre tunnel under Shinkun La on the Manali-Darcha-Padam-Nimu axis to allow all-weather connectivity to the Union Territory and cater to a continuous supply of troops and equipment in the worst-case scenario with either of the two adversaries. This is a significant step that will strengthen Ladakh’s defence.
A blacktop road on the Darcha-Padam-Nimu axis was built by the Border Roads Organization in 2019, but it was impassable throughout the winter because of the thick snow on Shinkun La, which is 16703 feet high.
The road is vital to Ladakh’s defence because, unlike the exposed Srinagar-Drass-Kaksar-Kargil highway near the LoC and the Manali-Upshi-Leh highway near the LAC, it is protected from long-range artillery and missile firing from both Pakistan and China.
After Chinese PLA aggression on the LAC in May 2020, the Indian Army used the Darcha-Padam-Nimu corridor to transport weaponry and ammunition to East Ladakh. In order to achieve all-weather connectivity on the Manali-Upshi-Leh highway, the government would have to build about 38 kilometres of tunnels under Baralacha La, Lachulung La, and Taglang La, all passes touching heights of over 16000 feet that remained snowed in for at least five months a year.
The Ministry of Highways and Road Transport was given the plan to build a tunnel through Shinkun La by the Defence Ministry in 2017, but the department was in favour of a 13-kilometre tunnel that would connect Shinkun La to the current Darcha-Upshi-Leh route. The project was on life support until it was turned over to BRO in 2020 following Chinese infractions, given the topography and the unfavourable sub-arctic temperatures.
At the Cabinet meeting today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the tunnel and the access roads on both sides. The project, which would cost a total of Rs 1681.51 crore and be finished by December 2025, will be completed. The BRO has already cut the road and black-topped the approaches on both sides of Shinkun La, so all that is left for the government to do is finish the 4.1-kilometre underground pass.
The action is particularly important because Nimu in Ladakh is adjacent to both Kargil and Leh, the UT’s administrative centre. This means that if a scenario develops along the 1597-kilometre LAC in the UT, whether it be in the Kargil-Siachen sector or the East Ladakh region, the Indian Army will be able to deploy its personnel and equipment more quickly.
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