NEW DELHI: Lt Governor of Ladakh Radha Krishna Mathur met Lt General Harpal Singh, Director General Border Roads and the senior officers of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) at the BRO Headquarters in Delhi on Friday and discussed the critical projects which are underway in the Ladakh region.
The BRO in its press release said, "The Chief Engineer Project Himank and Chief Engineer Project Vijayak both presented an overview of their respective Area of Responsibility (AoR). They also gave recommendations for future projects which could help in mitigating the road connectivity issues of the region."
BRO's projects Himank and Vijayak are responsible for construction and maintenance of critical road infrastructure in Ladakh.
The Lt Governor was also apprised about the challenges faced by the BRO due to the high altitude terrain of work area and long supply chain, as well as the requirement for additional equipments, proper identification of avalanche prone stretches, etc.
Measures such as change in alignment of roads, conducive clothing for labourers and timely and accurate forecasts by Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) were recommended as measures to deal with these challenges.
Director of SASE also briefed Lt Governor about the work being done regarding forecast of snow, identification of avalanche sites and the close co-ordination between BRO and SASE for undertaking snow clearance and construction of avalanche protection structures.
Sources informed that there has been improvement in the land acquisition proposals due to timely intervention and support of the LG. "LG RK Mathur stressed that the opening of Shinkula pass and Zojila tunnel are of the highest priority to help provide round year access to the region," said BRO.
While the avalanche-prone 16,700 ft high Shinkula pass connects the Lahaul valley in Himachal to Zanskar in Jammu and Kashmir and the tunnel under the 11,575- feet high Zojila pass connecting Srinagar and Leh will provide all-weather connectivity to the Kargil and Leh sectors.
BRO has completed the strategically important 255-km Darbuk-Shayok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) section of the road between Leh and Karakoram (KK) Pass which ends at 16,614 ft high DBO, about 20 km short of the 18,700 ft high KK Pass. India share 826 km long Line of Actual Control with China in the eastern Ladakh.