Highways corporation officials visit Shinku La

Tribune News Service

Mandi, September 18

KK Pathak, Managing Director, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), and Sanjeev Malik, Executive Director, yesterday visited the north and south portals of the Shinku La tunnel.

After the LAC face-off with China in the Galwan valley, the Central Government is now focusing on building infrastructure in border areas of Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.

In order to improve road connectivity, the NHIDCL, which is under the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, has expedited the process to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) on the 13.5-km Shinku La tunnel in Ladakh and Lahaul and Spiti district.

The officials travelled from Leh via Padum to the north and south portals of Shinku La. Anand Kumar Pahal, Executive Director, Regional Office, Srinagar, also accompanied them.

Once completed, the tunnel would provide all-weather connectivity to Leh from Manali to the Army via the Darcha-Padum-Nimmu highway as an alternate route. Till now, there is access to Leh from Manali only via the Manali-Leh highway, which is used by the Army only during the summer season. During the winter, the Manali-Leh highway gets closed for six months.