Inauguration of the Important Bridges Near China and Pakistan Borders
On 28 December 2021, Rajnath Singh who is the Defence Minister of India, virtually inaugurated the 24 bridges and 3 roads built by the (BRO) Border Roads Organisation in 4 States and 2 Union Territories of the country. It is yet another try to improve border road connectivity in India.
Of the 24 bridges, 9 are in Jammu & Kashmir, 5 individually in Ladakh & Himachal Pradesh, 3 in the state of Uttarakhand and 1 each in Sikkim & Arunachal Pradesh. Further, 2 roads were inaugurated in Ladakh and one in West Bengal.
It is marked that, India’s 1st indigenous Class 70 140-feet Double-Lane Modular Bridge, created at the height of 11,000 feet at Flag Hill Dokala, Sikkim was also inaugurated.
Talking about the importance of the road made at the Umling-La pass, the Defence Minister said, “It will enable faster movement of Armed Forces, boost tourism and ensure socio-economic development of the region.”
The Defence Minister expressed the indigenous Double-Lane Modular Bridge as a brilliant example of ‘Aatmanirbharta’ and admired the reality that it has been made at a much lower price and can be disassembled if requirement be. “It is an important milestone on the path to achieving ‘Make in India’ as envisioned by our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. It is a symbol of the Government’s resolve to provide faster connectivity to border areas. It will also pave the way for the construction of more bridges in such areas,” he said.
One important point to mention is that the newly made 52 km tarmac road at Umling La pass at 19,300 ft has become the highest motorable road in the world and has been made as part of Project Himank.
An endeavour of the BRO, Project Himank is authorised with the necessary task of building infrastructure in Ladakh and is also guided to as ‘The Mountain Tamers’.
Since its beginning in 1985, ‘The Project Himank’ has been at the fore in making roads, airfields and bridges both along the (LoC) Line of Control with Pakistan and the Line of Actual Control with the country China. At the moment, it is responsible for keeping a road network of more additional than 2,900 km in the whole Ladakh region.
Commenting on the same, Lt Gen KS Rao, said “In the military bridges are classified by the load they can take. The traditionally used Class 40 bridge can take upload up to 40 tonnes, which is what the majority of our tank weighs. However, if we have to transport these tanks on a tank transporter or towing vehicles, the combined weight of the two will be in excess of what a Class 40 bridge can support as they together become Class 70. In this scenario, the tanks will have to be loaded down from the transporters and reloaded after crossing the bridge, which is time-consuming and a logistical nightmare besides the fact that tank tracks also damage the road”.
