From 7 Hours To 40 Minutes: How India’s New Road Infra Has Slashed Travel Time To Doklam Amid Chinese Buildup
16 June 2017 - India and China were locked in a border standoff involving the Doklam plateau adjoining Sikkim after the Chinese side began building a road near the tri-junction border area between India, China and Bhutan.
India mobilised its troops to stop China from constructing the border road and achieved success when the standoff ended on 28 August 2017. Both parties withdrew their troops and China halted the road construction.
Achieving Success Amid Much Hardship
Confronting the Chinese army was not the only challenge India faced during the standoff, another big problem was access to the plateau.
In 2017 only a dirt road connected Doklam from the Bheem base and the army took a whopping 7 hours to access the region. On top of it the troops had to take the help of mules to traverse the road.
Lesson Learnt
Soon after the crisis ended the Border Road Organisation (BRO) swung into action and began constructing an all weather asphalt road connecting the Bheem base to the Doklam plateau on war footing.
The alternate road was sanctioned in 2015 but work began in earnest after the crisis, despite heavy movement of troops and materials. The road connecting Kupup in East Sikkim to the Dokala base on the outskirts of the Doklam plateau is now complete.
It is expected to bring down the travel time from 7 hours to just 40 minutes.
More Roads Connecting The Border
In the bid to change the military dynamics of the India-China border region, India has made an extensive plan to improve the road connectivity to the border areas.
In 2020 the BRO is expected to complete the construction of another all weather road connecting Sikkim to the Dokala base. This road connecting Flag Hill-Madhubala to Dokala is being built at an altitude of 3601 to 4200 metres amid steep terrain.
In total the BRO is constructing 61 roads along the India-China border spanning 3,346 km. Till now 2,400 km of such roads have been black topped. Eleven of these roads will be fully completed this year.
Some of these roads include an alternative access road to Ladakh, passing through Rohtang -Koksar-Kelong into the Zanskar valley, which will be complete by December. India has already completed a 180 KM long road connecting Passighat to Brahmakund which runs parallel to the India-China border.
Another crucial road which connects Leh to India’s northernmost territory has already been completed.
Chinese Buildup
Such measures are crucial considering China is said to be rapidly deploying troops, constructing roads and a heliport near Dolkam. China is also reportedly constructing various storage and troop accommodation units in the region.