BRO kick-start two strategic roads along China border

The Border Road Organization (BRO) has recently launched two key roads near the China border in eastern Ladakh — the site of a tense border stand-off with the country's northern neighbor. The projects aimed at providing connectivity to an important forward area that the military calls Sub-Sector North (SSN), said BRO sources, adding that the first is the strategic Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi (DS-DBO) road that provides connectivity to the country's northern-most outpost, Daulat Beg Oldi, the second road being built from Sasoma to Saser La will provide an alternative route to DBO near the Karakoram Pass in the road axis in the south-west of DBO. Both projects are being executed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which is ferrying 11,815 workers to areas near the China border in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for building strategic road connectivity. There is a need to have an alternative road to DBO in Sub-Sector in the northern region. The DS-DBO road can be interdicted at several chokepoints by Chinese forces during hostilities. While the road from Sasoma to Saser La can connect with DBO, it will be an engineering challenge due to the terrain and may require the construction of a tunnel too, said Lieutenant General BS Jaswal (retd), a former Northern Army commander.