Leh: The concerned authorities have set process in motion for construction of Khardung La tunnel in Leh as RITES conducted soil testing at one of the world’s highest motorable roads.
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The Rail India Technical and Economic Services, RITES, is conducting the soil testing and geo-tagging at around South Pullu, for the Khardung La tunnel. RITES is one of the agencies assigned a specific task of soil testing for tunnel construction. Union Territory Ladakh is constructing the tunnel.
Khardung La tunnel is one of the ten tunnels running up to 100 km that Centre has planned in the UTs of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir. The proposed tunnel beneath Khardung La pass, will connect Leh and the Nubra valley.
Construction of the tunnel at Khardung La will facilitate all-weather connectivity for smooth movement of military and civilian vehicles, across key mountain pass to forward locations, including the world’s highest battlefield Siachen.
The Centre is already constructing the 26.6-kilometer Hanuthang-Handanbroke-Zungpal-Turtuk road, to provide inter-valley connectivity between Indus Valley and Shyok Valley across the Stakpuchan range. The near-completing new route will reduce travel time to three and half hours from existing nine hours to Turtuk via Leh without crossing the treacherous Khardung La pass.
Khardung La tunnel has been a public demand for a long time by Nubra people, who remain cut off during the winter months from the rest of Ladakh and district headquarters Leh. From an environmental perspective, excess movement of motor vehicles is affecting the glacier on Khardung.
