Leh: Defence minister Rajnath Singh was thanked by a Ladakh man Friday after he inaugurated a 120-metre bridge over the Shyok river to provide armed forces round-the-clock access to the union territory’s Daulat Beg Oldi sector, which lies along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
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Singh was presiding over the inauguration of a bridge over the river; the bridge was built at an altitude of 14,000 feet.
The defence minister also inaugurated 74 other strategically important infrastructure projects, for which also he received thanks from the elderly Ladakhi native.
In a video , the man is overwhelmed with emotion after meeting Rajnath Singh and expresses his gratitude for development initiatives in the UT. He also recalls issues local people had to deal with as a result of the lack of development.
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“I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for launching development projects for our benefit. We have previously suffered a lot of challenges owing to the same,” he said.
“Maybe this is the last time I am meeting you, but I do feel extremely special.”
To this Rajnath Singh replies, “You have to live more…”
Other projects inaugurated include two helipads and a carbon-neutral habitat.
Twenty of these are Border Roads Organisation (BRO) projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
Another 18 are in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, with 14 in Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan, and five in Uttarakhand. They have been constructed at a cost of ₹2,180 cr.
After inaugurating the project, Singh asserted the lack of infrastructure development in decades post-independence was a big reason behind the rise of terrorism in J&K.
Singh appreciated BRO’s determination in achieving the feat despite challenging weather conditions. He said the projects will bolster the country’s defence readiness and also ensure economic development of border areas.
