In this year’s budget, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated the Modi government’s commitment that the government will build 2000 strategic highways in the next 5 years. Now this commitment was seen when India inaugurated the Lipulekh-Dharchula road in Uttarakhand at an altitude of 17 thousand feet. With this, the journey of Kailash Mansarovar has now become much easier. In the last 2 years, India has built several roads and bridges one by one in the areas adjacent to the Indo-China border, which will help India to make quick movements of its army.
After 14 years of tireless efforts, the highway built up to Garbadhar-Lipulekh was dedicated to the country through video conferencing by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Mukund were also present on the occasion.
Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates the Link Road to Kailash Mansarovar via video conferencing. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane also present. pic.twitter.com/f29bKwYgqw
— ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2020
After the inauguration, Rajnath Singh said, “The great difficulty of devotees going to Kailash Mansarovar has now become easier. Now they will be able to complete the three-week journey in a single week. With this, the decades-old dream of local people and pilgrims has also come true. ” This road starts from Ghatiyabgarh and ends in Lipulekh.
Explain that in addition to creating a shorter route for pilgrims traveling to Kailash Mansarovar, it will also give India a strategic advantage against China at an altitude of 17,060 feet. With this, India has come very close to LAC and can now access that area in a more convenient way. With the construction of this road, the soldiers of our army and paramilitary forces will reach China border with goods in three to four hours instead of 3 days.
Not only this, the Border Roads Organization (BRO) built the Daporijo Bridge over the Subansiri River, taking all precautions against the outbreak of COVID-19. The bridge is 430 feet in length and, given its capacity, the military material is then on the L.A.C. Can be sent. Also, rations, construction materials and medicines will be easily accessible on the other side of the river.
Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Shri @PemaKhanduBJP inaugurated 430ft Daporijo bridge on Subansiri River constructed by @BROindia & CE Arunank after the old bridge developed cracks#Covid19 #SwasthaBharat #sayyes2precautions #MoDAgainstCorona #StayHomeIndia #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/ZxZvpMsWbk
— ADG (M&C) DPR (@SpokespersonMoD) April 20, 2020
Right from the beginning on the India-China border, the biggest case has been connectivity with other parts of the country. Creating any type of infrastructure in difficult geographical conditions and weather is the biggest challenge here, but now efforts are being made to overcome these challenges.
The Border Roads Organization (BRO) which maintains and develops the road network along India’s borders, has built and developed around 60,000 km of roads in 2019, including an important 19.72 km road near Doklam which will be completed in 2017. Was formed after a 73-day stand-off that took place between Indian and Chinese forces. Due to this road, now India’s army can reach Doklam in 40 minutes. Earlier this journey used to be 7 hours.
The new 11 roads, known as the India-China Border Road (ICBR), are also planned to be completed soon by BRO, which lies along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. The BRO plans to complete nine more such roads by March 2021. It has targeted to complete 61 out of 73 ICBRs in three years.
With the decision of the Modi government last year in the construction of strategic roads to ensure easy connectivity towards the Line of Actual Control (LAC), 44 strategically important ‘roads’ started on the China-India border.
For more than five decades after the 1962 defeat, Congress governments had strategically weakened India by not building roads along the disputed border with China.
The Modi government is also constructing roads in areas that have been in the past due to a dispute between China and India. The construction of bridges in Arunachal Pradesh shows that India is not afraid of China’s bullying and claims, but rather intimidating. Prime Minister Modi is advancing road and infrastructure in all three regions i.e. Western (Ladakh), Central (Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh) and Eastern (Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim) of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).