Eye on China, Indian govt nod to strategic Ladakh tunnel

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Indian government on Wednesday approved the construction of the strategically-crucial 4.1-km tunnel under the forbidding Shinkun La, on the border between Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, for ‘alternate’ all-weather connectivity to Ladakh amid the continuing 33-month-long military confrontation with China.

The traffic movement in the twin-tube tunnel, which will not be vulnerable to long-range artillery shelling or missile firings either by China or Pakistan, at an altitude of over 16,500-feet on the Manali-Darcha-Padam-Nimu axis will ensure troops and heavy weaponry can be swiftly moved to forward areas.

“The tunnel under the Shinkun Pass (la means pass), to be constructed by the Border Roads Organization at a cost of Rs 1,681.5 crore, will be completed by December 2025,” a top official told TOI, even as union minister Anurag Thakur announced the decision of the PM-led cabinet committee on security.

The new all-weather connectivity to western Ladakh and Zanskar Valley, directly from the Manali axis through a 298-km NHDL (national highway double lane) specification road that will be ready by 2026, will hugely reduce the travel time as compared to the time taken on the existing routes passing through Zoji La from Srinagar.

The defence ministry in May 2021 had approved the plan to build the 4.1-km tunnel after a long tussle between the BRO and National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL). While the BRO had proposed the shorter tunnel, the latter has proposed a 12.7-km tunnel connectivity.

Sources said one of the main reasons for going ahead with the shorter tunnel was the early completion of the project in face of the threat from China. Though the BRO had laid the bituminous layer on the Darcha-Padam-Nimu axis in 2019, the road could not be used in winter months due to the heavy snow at Shinkun La.

India has to some extent reduced the huge “infrastructure differential” with China along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control, stretching from eastern Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, in terms of roads, tunnels, bridges, troop habitats, permanent defences, helipads and airfields over the last three years.

But a lot still remains to be done. Sources said tunnels are a priority area, both for all-weather connectivity and swifter troop deployments in forward areas as well as underground storage of ammunition, missiles, fuel and other supplies.

Nine new tunnels are under construction at present, which includes the strategic 2.5-km Sela tunnel to Tawang in Arunachal being built for Rs 687 crore at an altitude of over 13,000-feet, while 11 more tunnels are planned, as reported by TOI earlier.

With Indian and Chinese troops remaining forward deployed for the third consecutive winter in the 33-month-old military confrontation in eastern Ladakh, several more infrastructure projects by the Army’s Corps of Engineers and BRO are also currently underway or in the pipeline to further address this asymmetry with China. (The Times of India)