NEW DELHI: Amidst the 60th anniversary of the 1962 India and China war, the Indian armed forces are sprucing up infrastructure and consolidating their positions along the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control. The Indian Army is celebrating the bravery of its soldiers displayed during the two iconic battles of the Walong, November 16, in eastern Arunachal Pradesh and Rezang La, November 18, in Ladakh. The push to infrastructure is also necessitated due to the ongoing prolonged standoffs in Eastern Ladakh since May 2020.
The sources in the defence establishment said construction of a series of roads, tunnels, caverns and underground ammunition stores is in progress. “The important Sela tunnel will be ready by April which will give all-weather connectivity to the strategic areas of Tawang,” said the sources. The work on the road cum rail tunnel below the Brahmaputra bed is also in advanced stages, added the source.
The plan for 12 more tunnels is going on with a detailed project report being worked out for some of them. The focus on critical infrastructure can be understood from the fact that in the last 60 years only four tunnels were constructed whereas work on eight tunnels has begun in the last two years, added another source.
At present, the work on three tunnels in Arunachal Pradesh, four in Jammu and Kashmir and one in Ladakh is in various stages, he said. For connectivity in Uttarakhand, a tunnel is under plan towards Mussoorie in an area called the zig-zag area, said the sources.
The tunnels, Brahmaputra and Sela, at 13,700 ft will cut the travel time and will make it all weather for the people and military personnel looking after the Line of Actual Control (LAC). At present, there is a lone highway which connects Tawang with Guwahati and the rest of the country in winters.
Not even helicopters can fly into that area due to bad weather conditions. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO is currently executing 18 important projects spread across the country. The aim is to match the buildup of the Chinese PLA across the LAC. In 1962, the Chinese PLA was able to ingress the Indian Territory, both in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.
Battle of Walong
On November 16, the country commemorated 60 years of the ‘Battle of Walong’ of 1962 war, where 800 Indian Army soldiers had halted the advancing 4,000 PLA soldiers for 27 days.
Rezang La
It was on November 18, 1962 at Rezang La in Eastern Ladakh at 18, 000ft that the troops from the 13 Kumaon Regiment had defeated several waves of the PLA inflicting major damage.