SOURCE : INDIA TODAY
After two decades of being planned, the third axis to Ladakh connecting Leh to Manali that will provide year-round connectivity to the newly-created Union Territory is now expected to be complete by 2025. The urgency was shown to expedite the work on the project that is considered critical for strategic reasons.
Other than the Srinagar-Leh and Manali-Leh roads, a need was felt to have an alternate access to Ladakh after the Kargil conflict of 1999. The Manali-Leh route is still considered long and with five high-altitude mountain passes, it is closed for several months every year.
Nimmu-Padum-Darcha road: The third alternative
Amid the current border tension with China in Ladakh, road infrastructure projects have got a push and the 297-km long Nimmu-Padum-Darcha road (hereafter referred to as NPD road) that was identified as the third route to Ladakh in 2001-02 is being considered most critical in wake of the dual threat from Pakistan and China.
Leh is about 35 km east of Nimo.
Strategic significance of third route to Ladakh
The NPD road not only provides a third axis to access the Ladakh sector, but it also offers multiple other advantages.
It will provide a shorter route from Srinagar to Leh in case of any threat to vehicular movement from Srinagar towards Leh. Earlier, troop movement would have been from Manali to Leh, and then towards Kargil. This is almost a 700-km-long journey. But this road will reduce the distance between Manali and Kargil to 522 km.
Similarly, troops and supplies will be facilitated from Manali towards Leh through the relatively shorter NPD road. The Manali-Leh route is 473 km, while the Manali-Darcha-Padum-Leh road is 444 km.
The biggest benefit of the NPD road could very well be in terms of providing all-weather connectivity between Ladakh and the rest of the country.
Project cost up by nearly 10 times
Preliminary work on the project started in 2002 while the project was given approval in 2004. The initial budget estimate was Rs 251 crore and the project was expected to be completed by 2012.
As of July 2019, the project cost was revised to Rs 2,276.13 crore and of the 297 km, connectivity of 256.72 km had been achieved. The project is expected to complete by 2025. This includes black-topping of the road and double-lane as per national highway standards.
The road starts at Nimo, which is about 35 km before Leh on the Leh-Srinagar road. The confluence of Zanskar and Indus rivers is located close to Nimo. From Nimo, the proposed road follows the course of Zanskar river to enter Zanskar Valley till Padum.
From Padum, the road alignment moves in a south-easterly direction along Lungnak river till Purne village. From here, it then continues along Kurgiakh river till Shinku La/Shingo La pass (16,703 feet). This pass sits on the boundary between Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. From here, the road travels further and meets the Manali-Leh highway at Darcha.
The NPD road can be divided into three segments:
Darcha – Shinku La/Shingo La Road
Shinku La/Shingo La – Padum Road
Nimo – Padum Road
Darcha – Shinku La/Shingo La Road
While the NPD road was approved in 2002, the work on the 39.6-km Darcha-Shinku La/Shingo La Road started sometime in 2007-2008. However, the pace of construction was slow and the formation cutting till Shinku La/Shingo La pass was most likely achieved only in 2015-16 and the road was constructed by 2019. First 4×4 light vehicles were permitted to reach up to the pass from Darcha in 2015.
The need for a tunnel under Shinku La/Shingo La pass was identified way back in 2006-2007 and tenders for technical feasibility were also floated and L1 bidder was also identified by 2009. However, it seems no further work was done, and feasibility of a tunnel is being still under evaluation. The tunnel is expected to be 4-km long.
Shinku La/Shingo La – Padum Road
The stretch between Shinku La/Shingo La pass and Padum was completed in 2019 with first civilian 4×4 light vehicle traversing the Darcha-Shinku La/Shingo La-Padum axis in late 2019. Before this, a two-wheeler adventure rally had also been conducted where 10 motorcyles had travelled along this road from Himachal Pradesh.
Road widening is in progress and the next step is to black-top the road. However, available documents show that the road is not yet in shape to take heavy vehicular traffic and it still requires some work before proper connectivity can be achieved between Padum and Darcha.
Distance between Shinku La/Shingo La and Padum is 104 km.
Nimo – Padum road (Partial completion and alternate alignment)
The road length between Nimo and Padum is 156 km. Till Padum, the entire road moves along the Zanskar river. Starting from Nimo, about a 48-km stretch of the road has been completed till some distance ahead of Chilling village. From here, a stretch of about 30 odd kilometres till Nerak village is under construction.
Meanwhile, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has created one more road which connects with Nerak village, and from there, connects further with Padum. This road starts from a place called Langru on the Leh-Srinagar highway (about 80 km west of Nimo) and then follows the following alignment: Langru – Wangla – Phonjila – Sumdo – Photoksar – Yalchung – Nerak
Between Sumdo and Photoksar is the 16,370-feet high Sirisir La pass, and between Photoksar and Yulchung is the 16,227-feet high Singge La pass.
While connectivity with Nerak village was achieved by 2017, the 10-km stretch of the road ahead of Nerak village seems to have been completed recently. This has now provided connectivity between Langru on Srinagar-Leh highway to Darcha in Himachal Pradesh.
So, the current operational alignment is Langru – Padum – Darcha.
The BRO now intends to start working on the incomplete stretch between Nerak – Chilling on the Nimo-Nerak alignment from Nerak village as well to ensure faster completion of the road.
The NPD road is expected to be completed in all aspects, including National Highway Double Lane (NHDL) for a certain portion of the road, by 2025.
Socio-economic impact
While the NPD road is being looked at from its strategic significance, the socio-economic impact of the new alignment which has already become operational will be of great significance.
People of Zanskar Valley will now have direct connectivity with Leh towards north and Kullu-Manali towards the south-east. The distance between Padum and Leh will be about 200 km while the distance through Padum – Kargil – Leh road is 450 km. The distance will be lessened by more than half.
Similarly, people from Zanskar, who have a cultural and religious affinity with Lahaul and Spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh, will be able to directly access these areas. The 900-km one-way road journey from Padum to Manali or a trek of 7-8 days (Padum to Darcha) has been reduced to a day’s travel.
People can now avail better medical and education facilities and will have access to bigger commercial markets. Not to forget that with easier connectivity from Himachal Pradesh, tourism will increase in Zanskar Valley, leading to employment opportunities and economic development.
Zanskar – an isolated valley
Zanskar Valley is located south-east of Kargil and is connected to it by NH-301. The 234-km long NH-301 starts from Kargil town and terminates at Padum, which is the headquarters of Zanskar tehsil and the main town in the valley; Zanskar is one of the two tehsils under Kargil district. It takes between 10-12 hours to complete this road journey.
Zanskar river is formed when either of its two main tributaries, Stod or Doda rivers, meets the Lungnak river close to Padum. While Stod and Doda originate at Pensi La pass on Kargil-Padum road, Lungnak river originates when two other smaller rivers meet at a place called Purne, south-east of Padum. These two rivers are Tsarap Chu (which originates close to Baralacha La pass on Himachal-Ladakh border) and Kargiak river (which originates at Shinku La/Shingo La pass).
Zanskar river flows towards the north and after passing mostly through narrow gorges, meets Indus river at Nimo, which is about 35 km west of Leh on the Srinagar-Leh highway.
Zanskar valley is separated from Himachal Pradesh by the Himalayan range while Zanskar range separates it from Indus river basin, along which Leh and other important towns are located.
Because of the presence of these two high-altitude mountain ranges, Zanskar Valley does not have direct road connectivity with either Leh or Himachal Pradesh. For example, while the aerial distance between Padum and Leh is hardly 100 km, the road distance is around 450 km. This is because there is no direct connectivity between Zanskar Valley and Leh. People must first go to Kargil and from there, onward to Leh. This journey takes a two-day time.
Historically, the summer-time connectivity between Zanskar Valley and Leh was through mountain trails. This route followed the Zanskar river only partially and deviated towards Lingshed monastery and then through high-altitude passes such as Singge La (Lion Pass), Sirsir La, etc. reached a place called Langru, which is about 80 km west of Nimo.
In winters, when the water in Zanskar river froze, people could travel on the frozen river to go north towards Nimo, and then Leh. The famous ‘Chadar trek’ involves travelling inland along the frozen Zanskar river in winter.
Similarly, the aerial distance between Padum and Keylong in Himachal Pradesh (Keylong lies on Manali-Leh highway) is only 100 km but there is no road connectivity between these two towns.
Historically, and even today to some extent, people of Zanskar and its side valleys cross over to Himachal Pradesh after negotiating the 16,703-feet high Shinku La/Shingo La pass.
This mountain route connects Darcha in Himachal Pradesh (on Manali-Leh Highway) with Padum and takes few days to complete. Manali is about 148 km from Darcha and people can avail transport from Darcha towards Keylong and then, Manali.
If people want to use the land route, they will have to travel from Padum to Kargil, then Leh and then travel along the Leh-Manali highway. This is almost a 1,000-km one-way trip and will easily take a few days. Not to mention that the cost involved in this circuitous and long road trip might not be bearable by many people.
Atal Tunnel to be inaugurated next month
The ‘Atal Tunnel’ on the Rohtang pass, which will be critical for connectivity to Ladakh and interiors of Himachal Pradesh in winters, is expected to be inaugurated next month.
Work on other roads, bridges, and tunnels to improve connectivity to Ladakh’s interiors, linking it to the border areas, has also been expedited to ensure targets are met before winter sets in. Amid the border tussle with China, efforts are on to ensure maximum road projects are completed.
For connectivity to the remote areas, 142 roads of the length of 1,207 km were sanctioned in Ladakh, of which 96 roads of 699 km were completed till July 2020. Apart from roads, 30 bridges are also under construction to improve connectivity to forward areas close to the Line of Actual Control.
Sources privy to these developments told India Today TV that a total of 30 permanent bridges are under construction and road infrastructure worth approximately Rs 20,000 crore, including highways and tunnels, are under various stages of planning and construction. These projects, they said, will enhance connectivity in the region.
“It’s not just the major road connectivity to Ladakh’s capital Leh but road links that will connect Leh to the border areas that need to be completed without any delay,” said an official.
One of the biggest projects critical to Ladakh’s connectivity is the Rohtang or Atal Tunnel named after late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
This 8.8-km tunnel below the Rohtang pass will not only reduce travel distance but provide year-round connectivity between Manali and Keylong districts of Himachal Pradesh. At present, the Rohtang pass is open to traffic only for about seven months between May and November.
This falls on the 490-km Manali-Leh highway. About 225 km of this highway falls in Himachal Pradesh while the rest of it is in Ladakh.
The Atal Tunnel will help bypass only one of the four major passes on this alignment. The other three passes will continue to remain snow-bound during winters, impeding all-year connectivity to Leh.
This road is maintained by the BRO and was meant to provide an alternate access to Ladakh for the Indian Army. A major challenge of this road is the presence of five major mountain passes. While Rohtang Pass (13,058 ft) and Baralacha La (16,500 ft) fall in Himachal Pradesh, other three passes, Nakee La (15,547 ft), Lachulung La (16,616 ft) and Tanglang La (17,480 ft) fall in Ladakh.
The other connectivity to Ladakh is the 422-km NH-1, which runs from Srinagar to Leh.
Srinagar is itself connected to the rest of India through NH-44. The Srinagar-Leh highway navigates through the three high mountain passes of Zoji La (11,575 ft), Namika La (12,139 ft) and Fotu La (13,478 ft). While Fotu La is higher, Zoji La presents a bigger challenge because of altitude gain while climbing up from Srinagar valley to enter Ladakh across the Himalayan range.
The Centre in 2018 approved a 14.5-km Zoji La tunnel which would run below the pass and provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar and Kargil. However, as of mid-2020, construction on this tunnel is yet to commence.
Both highways to Leh come with their unique challenges and are of immense strategic importance to India.
The Srinagar-Leh highway runs very close to the Line of Control (LoC) between the Drass and Kargil stretch. Interdiction of this road can cut off the land link between the rest of the country and the affected areas and put pressure on the Indian Army in this, as well as adjoining sectors.
During the Kargil conflict in 1999, one of the major aims of Pakistan was to cut off the Srinagar-Leh highway with the objective of degrading Indian capability to maintain troops in Leh and Siachen sectors.
Apart from the above, with Zoji La and Fotu La passes getting covered in deep snow in winter, connectivity remains an issue as roads are closed for 5-6 months at a stretch. Zoji La tunnel (which is still 5-6 years away from completion) will only provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar and Kargil; beyond this, the Kargil – Leh road still has two mountain passes, Namika La and Fotu La, respectively.
