Introduction
Friends, China has always been presenting challenges on the Line of Actual Control ie LAC, in such a situation, India has to deploy a large number of its troops on the LAC to deal with the challenges.
But in these areas with difficult roads and snowy hills, it is very challenging to deliver equipment and ammunition to the soldiers.
In such a situation, in view of these challenges, India is engaged in developing the road network from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh.
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Border Road Organization (BRO) works on many projects of road construction in these areas. One of these projects but very important is Project Himank.
In this article, we will discuss Project Himank and also know about BRO in detail.
We will also discuss the accomplishment of BRO registering its name in the Guinness World Records.
Project HIMANK Under Border Road Organization (BRO)
Friends, before discussing about Project Himank, let us know about the organization that has launched it to the ground reality and what is its role in the road development of India.
Well, we all know that roads play an important role in the development of any country where roads serve to connect one place to another. This makes the traffic flow easy and smooth. More accessible model facility in remote places with easy transportation makes it easy to reach.
At the same time, there are some roads that are vital arteries of national security and the responsibility for similar routes in India rests on the shoulders of BRO i.e. Border Roads Organization.
BRO deals with the construction and management of roads networks in the border areas of India. It is an integral part of the Indian Army as well as an organization of road construction.
Through BRO, the work of development and maintenance of road networks in the border areas and friendly neighboring countries of India is done.
The Border Roads Organization was established on 7 May 1960 and back then, BRO started working on 2 projects and these projects were Tuskar Project and Beacon Project.
Later, the name of Project Tuskar was changed to Project Vartak.
Project Tuskar was started on 7 May 1960 for the development of roads, bridge, tunnels, and airfields for the strategic and socio-economic development of the North Eastern region of India, while Project Beacon was started on 18 May 1960 for the development of the western region of the country.
Under this, the work of road development was started in the inaccessible area of Jammu and Kashmir.
At present, more than a dozen projects are being worked on by BRO.
The specialty of BRO is that it takes special care of environmental protection at the time of road development.
BRO is involved in large-scale work to facilitate the access of the Indian Army to the border with Pakistan i.e. Line of Control (LoC) and the border with China i.e. Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The Border Road Organization has proven its success all over the world.
BRO has registered its name in the Guinness World Records by building the World’s Highest Motorable Road in Eastern Ladakh at an altitude of 19300 feet.
India has broken the record of the road in Bolivia whose height is 18953 feet
Situated in Bolivia, this 64 km long road is also known as the Road of Death.
This road in Bolivia is slippery, so while driving on it, the tires of the vehicles sleep towards the bottom.
Sometimes due to this the vehicles fall into the ditch hundreds of feet below.
And every year about 300 people lose their lives due to accidents on this road.
But the Chisumle-Demchok road of Ladakh is very well built
It is made from coal tar and is developed under Himank project.
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The most important thing is that this road has been made by beating the height of both the basecamps located on the world’s highest peak i.e. Mount Everest.
The height of the North Base Camp of Mount Everest, located in Tibet, is 16900 feet, while the height of the South Base Camp of Mount Everest located in Nepal is 17598 feet.
Whereas the height of Mount Everest is 29032 feet, that is, the height of Mount Everest from this road is 9732 feet.
The height of the same Siachen Glacier is 17700 feet while Khardung La pass in Leh is located at an altitude of 17582 feet.
The height of all these is being told to you so that you can get an idea of the height of this motorable road.
Details of Project HIMANK
So friends, now let’s understand Project Himank in a little more detail and discuss each aspect of it.
Friends, Border Road Organization (BRO) has built the world’s highest road near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) adjacent to Eastern Ladakh and this road is built on the Umlingala Pass.
The most important thing is that this road has been built near the Demchok area, between India and China.
This move of India has increased the concerns of China and with the completion of this road, connectivity has increased in areas like Demchok and Hanley of Eastern Ladakh, as well as this will accelerate the movement of the Indian Army.
Let us tell you that there have been many conflicts between the Indian and Chinese army in Dam Chowk.
In August 2022, China had stopped Indian Shepherds in these areas, to which the Indian Army had strongly objected.
A meeting was also held on 26 August 2022 between the armies of both countries regarding this matter in which the matter was resolved.
Although there has been a dispute between India and China on the LAC since 1962, but in Eastern Ladakh, the dispute started in April and May 2020.
After this, on June 15, 2020, a violent clash is seen between the soldiers of India and China in Galvan Valley, in which 20 Indian soldiers were martyred, while 40 to 45 soldiers of China had to lose their lives.
China has already developed its own road network near the Line of Actual Control and had built its first highway G219 in the Aksai Chin region in 1955, while now China is going to build its second highway G695 in this region.
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Due to the road network, Chinese soldiers keep patrolling on LAC by road easily, while India does not have road network facility in this region, due to which Indian soldiers have been facing a lot of trouble.
In such a situation, since the past few decades, India has also accelerated the development of road network in these inaccessible areas in the last few years.
The Defense Ministry had given an information during the monsoon session in Parliament in 2022 that in the last 5 years, China has built the longest road on the border.
The Border Road Organization (BRO) in India has done the work of building an all-weather road on the border of the country.
According to the information given in the Lok Sabha, 2088 km of roads have been built in the areas adjoining the Chinese border, on which Rs 15477 crore has been spent.
At the same time, India has also started the work of constructing five major roads on LAC in Eastern Ladakh and BRO is engaged in completing these projects
These include the roads from Khal Se to Batalik up to 78 km
50 kms from Kargil to Dunglim
70 kms from Khalsar to Agam Shyok
and road from Tangse to Lukum that covers 31 kilometer
According to the Defense Ministry, these projects also include upgrading the single-lane main road to double lane.
The construction of Hanuthang-Handenbroke-Zungpal-Turtuk road will provide inter-valley connectivity between Hanuthang-Handenbroke and Zungpal-Turtuk road
This will reduce the travel time on this route from 9 hours to 3.5 hours without crossing the Khardung La pass.
At the same time, the Border Road Organization started a project in August 1985, which was named Project Himank.
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This project has been entrusted with the important task of infrastructure development in the Ladakh region.
Project Himank has been at the forefront of the development of Roads, bridges, tunnels, and airfields on both the Line of Control with Pakistan and the Line of Actual Control with China.
In present, Project Himank is looking after more than 3000 km of road network in the entire Ladakh region.
Earlier, road construction work has been completed at Khardungla Pass at a height of 17900 feet and Chang La pass at a height of 17695 feet under Project Himank.
Now in this series, BRO has achieved another achievement by doing road construction on Umlingala Pass.
Himank Project insures India’s access to sensitive military areas like Siachen Glacier and Pangong Lake and the world’s highest battleground
The Himank project has been a very difficult task, in fact, the peaks on which these roads are being constructed, snow remains frozen for a long time in a year and in such a situation, it can be worked on only properly for 4 months.
The same heavy snow and extreme cold make this road construction work even more difficult.
It was such a difficult task that in the line of duty in Ladakh between 1987 and 2002, 124 soldiers associated with the Himank project were martyred, including five officers.
According to the spokesperson of BRO, the length of the Chisumle-Demchok road is 52 km, this road is strategically very important.
The road connects Chisumle and Demchok Villages, passing through Hanley.
This region is located at a distance of 230 km from Leh.
According to Brigadier DM Purvimath, Chief Engineer of Project Himank, the climate of this region has always been unfavourable and challenging for construction activities.
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The temperature here during summer is 10 to 20 ° C, while in winter the temperature reaches minus 40 ° C, so it has a great impact on the workers and machines working here.
Officers, jawans and workers associated with Project Himank have built these roads by risking their lives.
The situation was that at every 10 minute interval, the operators had to come down after turning off the machine so that he could take proper oxygen.
It is a fact that there is a lack of oxygen at high altitudes, due to which there is difficulty in breathing there.
At the same time, at a height of 19300 feet, the oxygen level is reduced by 50 percent compared to normal locations.
Many workers and officers had to face health problems like memory loss, eyesight problem and high blood pressure due to working in adverse weather condition in Himank project but considering the importance of this road for country army and local people, the project Himank’s officers and workers worked hard day and night by risking their lives.
The workers and officers involved in the construction work were thoroughly trained before the project, after which their bodies were made adapted to the local weather and climate in 3 steps
First they were kept in Leh and then in Shakti and then in Numa.
The workers and officers who were involved in the project were kept completely healthy
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Conclusion for Project HIMANK
Friends, the dispute about the border between India and China is quite old.
Both countries share a border of 3488 km.
China has increased its conductivity in these regions for a long time and it has been interfering in the Indian region.
In such a situation, India is also focused on improving connectivity in the regions near the Chinese border, while in view of the ongoing conflict on the LAC, infrastructure development projects including roads, bridge, and tunnel have increased significantly in Ladakh sector as well.
BRO has set a target to complete all 61 Strategic Roads along the China Border by December 2022 to facilitate the movement of Soldiers and their troops to such challenging places.
The same project Himank will provide great convenience to the people in Ladakh region, as well as the road to be built under this project will enhance the socio-economic status of this region and will also promote tourism in Ladakh.
So friends this was the story of Project Himank
In this article, we learned how BRO built the world’s highest roads under Project Himank.
Friends, according to you, which was the most difficult project of BRO under Project Himank, definitely tell us.
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