In the strategically significant Ladakh region, where Chinese incursions and Indo-China stand-offs take place frequently, impediments faced by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) continue to affect the operational preparedness of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Army.
The BRO, which largely has the responsibility of constructing and maintaining border roads, faces impediments such as acquisition of land, delay in forest and wildlife clearances and hostile weather.
“In the age of drones and in comparison with the Chinese infrastructure on their side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), we are still grappling with a poor road network,” said a defence source.
The Army headquarters in New Delhi has been voicing concern and the Centre has been urged to remove bottlenecks so as to pave the way for the BRO to speed up work and complete some of the important road projects, he added.
The delays in road construction in Ladakh impact the operational preparedness of the forces along the LAC, said an Army source.
“It is an open secret that India is lagging behind China when it comes to the border infrastructure. China has built all-weather roads on their side and in our case, ITBP men and Army troops still have to trek an arduous terrain in the absence of roads,” he added.
The Army and the ITBP today needs 12 all-weather roads —- the bare minimum requirement to ensure movement of men and material to the posts, he said.
“There are certain impediments like delay in forest and wildlife clearance, land acquisition and harsh weather but we hope that things will fall in place soon as the Centre has asked the state government to quickly remove these impediments,” he added.
In February this year, the Centre had told Parliament that it anticipated completion of 16 roads this year and another 13 next year in Ladakh and the North-East.
The BRO has been entrusted with the maintenance and construction of 7,636-km roads in J&K and Sikkim, out of which 4,294 km is connected. Of these, 12 Indo-China Border Roads are in Ladakh and three in Sikkim.
At least 10 of the ITBP posts in the Ladakh region get cut off every winter for over six months due to lack of road connectivity.
China has already built over 10,000-km-long rail lines in Tibet and other areas across the LAC.
The 3,488-km-long LAC between India and China runs through J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
Ladakh has 955-km-long LAC that includes some portion of the international border with China and 122-km-long Actual Ground Position Line with China.
