India is working on a strategic 135-km link road in Ladakh: Report

India has started building a strategic road along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, according to a report in the Times of India.

As per the report, the road will, for the most part, trace the Indus and mirror a blacktop surface link on the Chinese side.

The proposed road is being built from Chushul south of Pangong Tso and Demchok in eastern Ladakh. The Border Roads Organisation started the work on Republic Day and aims to complete the project in two years.

“Chushul has three blacktop links to Leh. Two of them converge on Tangtse from where the road goes on to Leh via Chang La (pass). Another road links up with the Nyoma-Leh road in the east at Mahe. But from Chushul, the road till Loma bridge on Indus is mostly unpaved or eaten up by shifting sand. Across the Loma bridge, it is purely off-road through a vast, empty stretch of gravelly surface interspersed with sandy stretches. The blacktop alternative to Demchok from Loma is through Hanle but it means going across the 19,023-foot-high Umling La after climbing the 18,000-plus foot-high Photi La,” the report said.

The road will provide rapid access to the Tibetan refugee settlement of Dungti overlooking ITBP’s Hena post, and the advance landing ground at Fukche.

It is also expected to help promote tourism in the area if the forces allow tourists to venture into these areas.