Kargil Vijay Diwas: Pakistan had conspired to cut off Leh from other parts of the country

New Delhi/Drass (Kargil): When Pakistan infiltrated in 1999, it conspired to cut off the entire Leh-Ladakh from Kashmir. The Pakistani army wanted to cut off National Highway 1A, which is the road connecting Leh via Zojila Pass. Pakistan knew that if this route is obstructed, the Indian Army will have difficulty in sending its soldiers and logistics. However, even then Pakistan was not successful in its objective. After the Kargil war of 1999, India focused on infrastructure. On 26 July, i.e. Kargil Vijay Diwas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually start work on the Sinkun La Tunnel Project. This tunnel will be built on the Nimu-Padam-Darcha road. This access will be the third way to connect Leh to other parts of the country. Currently there are two routes, one through Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway and the other through Manali. Sinkun La Tunnel will be 4.1 kilometers long and it will be built at an altitude of 15800 feet above sea level. It will be the highest tunnel in the world. Once the tunnel is built, there will be all-weather connectivity from Nimu-Padam-Darcha Road to Leh. This will be a twin tube double lane tunnel.

All weather road and tunnel are being prepared
Along with this, an all-weather road and tunnel is being prepared to cross the Zojila Pass. This tunnel being built on the Srinagar-Leh Ladakh Highway will connect Sonamarg and Drass. It is a 14.2 km long tunnel. Every year when there is heavy snowfall in the areas of Srinagar, Leh and Ladakh, the Srinagar-Leh-Ladakh Highway gets closed, it remains closed for about 3-4 months. After the completion of this tunnel, movement will be possible through this route throughout the year. This will give a big advantage to the army deployed on the border. The Zojila Tunnel is being built at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters above sea level. It is the highest tunnel in Asia. The construction of this tunnel has been targeted to be completed by 2026. It will act as a bypass for the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway. It takes about 10 hours to go from Srinagar to Leh through this highway and a lot of time is spent in Zojila Pass. This distance will be reduced after the construction of Zojila tunnel. Once the Zojila and Sinkun La tunnels are completed, there will be all-weather connectivity to Leh via these two routes.

Now Indian soldiers remain stationed on the peaks in every season
In 1999, when Indian soldiers drove out Pakistani soldiers, the war was fought on high peaks in difficult conditions. There was no shortage of supplies, but the weather was harsh. In this area, the Indian Army had many posts which were called winter vacated posts, meaning that the soldiers vacated these posts in winter and came down. Similarly, Pakistan also had winter vacated posts. In the winter before the Kargil war, the Indian Army vacated this post quite late compared to other times. But when the post was vacant, the Pakistani army used this time to come forward and infiltrate.

Now this post is never kept empty
Soldiers stay here to protect the country in extreme circumstances, so that the enemy never dares to infiltrate and occupy our land again. Arrangements have also been made to ensure that the soldiers do not face any problem in living here. Now there are special high altitude tents and special winter clothing for the soldiers to live in. Which gives comfort to the soldiers even in minus 40 to minus 50 degrees Celsius. Smart camps have been built for the soldiers here, where there is electricity and there is also a facility to keep the place warm along with water. There are also special arrangements to keep the soldiers healthy. There are special three-layer tents for the soldiers deployed on the high peaks of Ladakh, which keep them safe from snow and strong winds from outside and also have arrangements to keep them warm from inside.