LEH: The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has connected the strategic Nimmu-Padam-Darcha road in Ladakh on March 25, which will connect Manali to Leh through Darcha and Nimmu on the Kargil-Leh Highway, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. According to the Defence Ministry, the road is now the third axis apart from Manali-Leh and Srinagar-Leh, which connect Ladakh to the hinterland. The 298-kilometer-long Nimmu-Padam-Darcha road derives its strategic importance from the fact that it is not only shorter vis-a-vis the other two axes, but crosses only one pass; Shinkun La (16,558 feet) on which tunnel work is about to commence by the BRO, the ministry said. BRO Director General Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan said that work on black topping the road will start soon. “When the River Zansakar was frozen, the equipment and personnel were mobilised and the work of establishing connectivity was completed. Work on black topping the road will start soon. With the construction of the Shinkun La tunnel commencing, the third all-weather axis to Ladakh will be established,” he said. The Defence Ministry said that this will result in the road having all weather connectivity to the Ladakh region. “The connectivity will strengthen the defence preparedness and provide a boost to economic development in the Zanskar valley,” it said.
