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| Alternate route to Ladakh is a must | | Centre's dilatory tactics affect BRO's operations | | From B L KAK
NEW DELHI, July 1: Even as New Delhi is universally known for its keenness to provide an alternate route to the trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, lack of speed on part of governmental agencies has affected the operations of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
At a time when the Army authorites do not appreciate the go-slow tactics of the executive, the BRO has reportedly complained that little has been done by the Centre in spite of the fact that a list of requirements was sent to the govgernment by the BRO more than eight months ago.
The Army needs the all-weather Manali-Leh road. Such a highway, it is officially explained, will mean a smooth logistical passage into Jammu and Kashmir. Ladakh is located in east of Kashmir.
It is, in this context, that the Army authorites as well as the BorderRoads Organisation planers have not appreciated the manner in which the government is taking its time.
The government has already approved the construction of the all-wseather alternate route with a critcal tunnel under the Rohtang mountain pas. Central to this route is the 8.8 km-long tunel through this mountain pas. It will be usable throughout the year, unjlike the Zojila mountain pas on the Srinagar-Kargil road, which remains blocked for half of the year due to snow in the region during winter months.
If the movement of vehicles on the Srinagar-Leh route is, and will be, slow in view of the terrain and topography of the area, the new route will allow faster movement of artillery and troops in case hostilities break out in the nsorth. More than Rs 1,300 crores have since been sanctioned by the government for the purpose.
Importance of the new route, Indian Army specialists point out, has increased in view of the fact that the present Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highway has not been threat-free. In plain language, the highway was, during the 1999 Kargil conflict, targeted by the Pakistani artillery and rocket positions based on the heights of the flanking hills.
Even as the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir has been in force since 2003, the Indian Army authorites, particularly the Udhampur-based Northern Command, would appreciate if the Union government cleared the Border Roads Organisation's detailed list of requirements without any delay and enabled the agency (BRO) to speed up the construction activity on the Manali-Leh highway.
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