(TibetanReview.net, Jul26’24) – As the military standoff continues, so also does the strengthening of security in the form of building of strategic infrastructure and deployment of arms and equipment on both sides of the Ladakh international border. If China has completed the building of a heavy-duty bridge overlooking Pangong Tso lake, India has embarked on building the world’s highest altitude tunnel in the region.
The “first blast” to launch the construction of the strategically-crucial Shinkun La tunnel for alternate all-weather connectivity and swifter troop mobility to Ladakh will be conducted “virtually” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, reported the timesofindia.com Jul 26.
The project to construct the 4.1 km long twin-tube tunnel at an altitude of 15,800-feet, under the forbidding Shinkun Pass on the Nimmu-Padam-Darcha road by the Border Roads Organization (BRO) at a cost of Rs 1,681 crore, was approved by the PM-led cabinet committee on security in February last year.
The report said construction of tunnels along the northern borders with Chinese ruled Tibet remained a top priority despite harsh weather and terrain conditions, amid the continuing military confrontation in eastern Ladakh, which is into its fifth year now.
The report noted that the Sela tunnel, built at an altitude of over 13,000-feet on the Balipara-Chariduar-Tawang road in Arunachal Pradesh for Rs 825 crore, for instance, was inaugurated in March.
Tunnels can also be used for underground storage of ammunition, missiles, fuel and other supplies. “Several more tunnels are under-construction or in the planning stage,” the report quoted “an officer” as saying.
The Shinkun La tunnel, which will have cross-passages every 500 metres, will take at least two years to be completed. “It will then be the highest such tunnel in the world, bypassing the Mi La tunnel built by in China in occupied Tibet at 15,590-feet. It will not only ensure swift and efficient movement of troops and heavy weapon systems but also foster economic and social development in Ladakh,” the officer has added.
The two-lane Mi La tunnel, which is over 5.7 km long, is part of a 400-km highway, linking Tibet’s capital Lhasa with Nyingtri in the southeast of Tibet, close to India’s border. The construction of the tunnel started in 2015 on Mila Mountain and was completed on Apr 22, 2019.
“The Nimmu-Padam-Darcha road derives its strategic importance from the fact that it’s not only shorter vis-a-vis the other two routes (Manali-Atal tunnel-Sarchu-Leh and Srinagar-Zojila-Kargil-Leh), but also crosses only one pass, the Shinkun La at 16,700-feet,” another officer has said.
“The Shinkun Pass remains snow-bound for around five months every year, thus cutting off this route. The tunnel under it will ensure all-weather connectivity,” he has added.
India has to some extent reduced the huge “infrastructure differential” with China along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control. However, a lot still remains to be done, with China setting a frenetic pace in building border infrastructure and dual-use `Xiaokang’ villages, strengthening military positions and deploying additional aircraft at its air-bases facing India, the report noted.