‘No Question Of Halting Road Projects Near China Border’: Workers Mobilised, Work Begins On Strategic Road In Ladakh

Indian officials have made it clear that there is no question of stopping road construction near the China border and workers are being mobilised for the same.

Migrant workers from Jharkhand will soon be taken to build strategic roads near the China border and the Defence Ministry has sought 11 special trains to facilitate their transportation, Hindustan Times has reported.

This request was made to the Railways Ministry on 22 May.

This development comes amid a border standoff between India and China in Ladakh after the latter’s aggressive posturing at the border to get India to stop building border roads.

“There is no question of halting work on the road projects because of the standoff that could go on for weeks. The working season has begun and we cannot waste time,” an official was quoted as saying that work has already begun on Darbuk-Shyok-Daulet Beg Oldie road in Ladakh.

The workers totalling over 11,000 will be transported via the special trains to border areas in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) needs a total of 40,000 workers for the scheduled construction of roads and tunnels near the Chinese border.