BRO constructs world's highest motorable road at the Umlingla Pass in Eastern Ladakh

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) constructed and black-topped the highest motorable road in the world. The road is situated at a height of 19,300 ft. in Umlingla Pass, Eastern Ladakh. It has created a record in high-altitude road construction. The road constructed by BRO connects the important towns in the Chumar sector of Eastern Ladakh. It offers an alternate direct route connecting Chisumle and Demchok from Leh, which will be immensely beneficial for the local population. It will also enhance the socio-economic condition in the region by promoting tourism in Ladakh.

Border Roads Organisation in India builds World's Highest Road; higher than Mount Everest Base Camp 

It is a 52-km long tarmac road through the Umlingla Pass. It was constructed with the purpose of bettering the previous record of a road in Bolivia connecting to its volcano Uturuncu at 18,953 ft. The BRO tweeted, “𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗜 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽...And we reached the last milestone over the Mighty Umling La Pass by constructing the World's Highest motorable road.”. The road has been constructed at an altitude higher than the Mount Everest Base Camps with the South Base Camp in Nepal being at an altitude of 17,598 ft, and North Base Camp in Tibet at 16,900 ft. In terms of height, it also stands above the altitude of Siachen Glacier at 17,700 ft. and the Khardung La Pass in Leh which has an altitude of 17,582 ft.

Border Roads Organisation works on restoring roads in rainfall and landslide-hit areas in India 

Infrastructure development in such harsh and tough terrain is extremely challenging. During the winter, the temperature dips below -40 degrees and the oxygen level at this altitude is almost 50 % less than what it usually is at normal places. The BRO workers work in such extreme conditions. The BRO has also been actively working in rain-affected areas to restore the roads. They restored connectivity at the Yarlung-Lamang road in Arunachal Pradesh, along with a number of other roads hit with heavy rainfall. They also helped in clearing bridges which were destroyed by the landslides in Himachal.

Image: PIB India/Twitter