NEW DELHI: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to inaugurate multiple border infrastructure projects in strategically key areas including in the western sector on Thursday, government sources said Wednesday. A number of bridges in the border areas will be virtually inaugurated, they added.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Defence Minister reviewed the ongoing infrastructure progress in Border areas. Rajnath Singh later lauded the Border Road Organisation (BRO) for commendable work in constructing roads, Bridges and Tunnels in Border areas. Defence Secretary, Ajay Kumar and other senior officials of the Ministry were also present in this high-level meeting including the Ladakh region, where the recent military tensions have surged between India and China in the last month.
Border Road Organisation(BRO) executed 30 per cent more works in the Financial year 2019-20 as compared to 2018-19. In a released statement by defence ministry said, “The Border Roads executed snow clearance works on 149 roads (of 3,965 kilometers’) in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh which ensured early and rapid movement of troop to forward areas.”
BRO is continuously aiming to complete projects amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. In April, they completed construction of Daporijo Bridge on Subansiri river in Arunachal Pradesh. The 430ft. Bridge link towards the LAC between India and China. All supplies, rations, constructional material and medicines will pass over this bridge to the armed forces.
Another Project Atal Bridge is being constructed in the Pir Panjal Ranges of Himachal Pradesh. It will connect Manali to Lahaul Valley throughout the year and will reduce the road length of Manali-Rohtang Pass-Sarchu-Leh road by 46 Kms. Besides connecting the people of Lahaul to the rest of India through the year the tunnel will aid the forward connectivity offering the security forces a major strategic advantage.
In these construction projects, BRO has inducted the latest equipment including technology geotextile, use of plastic, cementation base on the work surface and slope stabilisation techniques. Under the ‘Make in India ‘ initiative, collaboration with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) have been carried for indigenously produced bridges.
The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in the bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last eight weeks. The tension escalated manifold after the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in clashes in Galwan Valley on June 15.