On the one hand, corona virus was affecting most of the infrastructural , commercial and other important activities in the country, on the other hand , the resilience of keeping normal and developmental activities and fighting the corona pandemic going on simultaneously , construction of a tunnel under the 5100 metre high Shinkun La Pass had run into rough weather due to top officials of the project having fallen sick due to the COVID virus. In this connection, however, both the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) had made fresh representations before the Defence Minister as the proposed tunnel was vital for supplying Indian Army formations in Ladakh. NHIDCL , however, had been preparing a detailed project report (DPR) since 2017 itself much before Chinese attempts of misadventure in Ladakh in May 2020.The choice finally fell on the shorter tunnel. As many a project sometimes tend to suffer on account of the still prevalent red-tape in administrative system, it is heartening to note that the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has taken a pragmatic decision in favour of a Tunnel 4.25 kilometre long which is a shorter one under the Shinkun La Pass as compared to the one which was earlier proposed.This Tunnel, it may be noted, is to provide an all weather axis from Manali to Leh via DarchaPadun -Nimmu alignment and was expected to be completed by 2024.
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