NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday authorized the building of the strategically-crucial 4.1-km tunnel under the forbidding Shinkun La, on the border in between Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, for alternate all-weather connectivity to Ladakh amid the continuing 33-month-long military fight with China.The traffic motion in the twin-tube tunnel, which will not be susceptible to long-range artillery shelling or missile firings either by China or Pakistan, at an altitude of over 16,500-feet on the Manali-Darcha-Padam-Nimu axis will make sure soldiers and heavy weaponry can be quickly transferred to forward locations.

The tunnel under the Shinkun Pass (la suggests pass), to be built by the Border Roads Organisation at an expense of Rs 1,681.5 crore, will be completed by December 2025, a top official informed TOI, even as Union minister Anurag Thakur announced the decision of the Prime Minister-led cabinet committee on security.The defence ministry in May 2021 had authorized the strategy to develop the 4.1-km tunnel after a long tussle in between the BRO and National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL).

While the BRO had actually proposed the much shorter tunnel, the latter has proposed a 12.7-km tunnel connectivity.Sources said among the main factors for going on with the shorter tunnel was the early completion of the project in face of the hazard from China.

Sources stated tunnels are a concern area, both for all-weather connectivity and swifter troop deployments in forward locations as well as underground storage of ammo, rockets, fuel and other products.