India is finally kick-starting its plan to build as many as 18 tunnels along its borders with Pakistan and China, for faster troop mobility, as well as storage of critical war-fighting assets like missiles, without the threat of detection by enemy satellites and spy drones, Indian media reported on Thursday.
While the preliminary work on seven tunnels is underway after requisite approvals, the construction of 11 more tunnels in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh is now on the drawing board after “a strong endorsement’’ by Indian Army, TNN news agency reported.
With China resorting to ‘tunneling in a big way’ to store important military equipment, the Indian Army wants its tunnel construction plans in the mountains of J&K and north-east to be fast-tracked. “The tunnels will provide shelter to troops and ammunition, from both enemy shelling and extreme weather. They can also be used for NBC (nuclear, chemical, biological) protection and establishing command and control centers,’’ said a top official.
Actual construction work is underway only in one of the 18 proposed tunnels. But, this long-delayed 8.82-km long horse-shoe shaped tunnel under the 13,400-feet Rohtang Pass, on the Manali-Sarchu-Leh axis, is unlikely to meet its completion deadline of February, 2015. Feasibility studies and preparation of detailed project reports (DPRs) for three more tunnels at Zozila, Z-Morh and Razdhan Pass in J&K are in progress, while similar work is planned for Khardungla and Sadhana Pass in J&K and Theng in Sikkim. The other proposed tunnels include Rangpo in Sikkim and on the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang axis in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Army is anxious to have existing large gaps in border infrastructure in terms of all-weather roads, tunnels, strategic railway lines, ‘permanent defenses’, etc to get plugged as fast as possible. China, for instance, can move around 30 divisions (each with over 15,000 soldiers) to the borders within 30 days to outnumber Indian forces by 3:1, after undertaking massive infrastructure development along the 4,057-km Line of Control, as reported by Times of India.
An empowered committee under defense secretary Shashikant Sharma is scrutinizing DPRs for the proposed overall ‘capability development plan on the northern borders’’ worth Rs 2,61,550 million. While this is slated for completion by 2020-2021, there is an ongoing Rs 92,430 million project for ‘infrastructure development in the eastern theatre’’ by 2016-2017.
The Indian Army hopes that the projects are not hit by huge time overruns, like the 73 all-weather roads earmarked for construction along the three sectors of LAC a decade ago. Defense minister A K Antony admitted in LS this week that only 16 of those roads have been finished till now, with another 26 slated for completion by 2013, and 19 more by 2016.