A row has erupted over India-China border in Ladakh since killing of 20 Indian soldiers in June. (File)

New Delhi:

To facilitate fast movement of security forces and easy deployment of heavy machinery and other weapons to locations along Ladakh’s Line of Actual Control (LAC) – the de factor border between India and China – amid ongoing tension between the two countries, the Border Road Organisation (BRO) has started working round-the-clock to finish building roads to Leh and clean the patches that have seen landslides or were blocked.

The BRO officials said sensing the gravity of the current situation along the China border they have considerably increased their workforce, including hired labour, who are using latest machinery to lay roads and blast mountain rocks to clear passages. They said they are working in double shifts and over the weekends to accomplish this task, especially ahead of the winter months.

A row has erupted over the India-China border in Ladakh since the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in June. Though top army officers and ministers of the two nuclear-armed nations have since held several rounds of meetings to push for mutual de-escalation, the standoff continues with China even increasing deployment of men and machinery along the LAC.

“In the current situation, to help the Army and other military forces transport any heavy machinery, the BRO has been using latest machines, the kind one won’t find in any other part of the country, that have increased our speed of making roads 10 times and reduced the risk to human life,” B Kishan, Executive Engineer Officer commanding, 81 Road Construction Company, BRO told ANI.

The Border Road Organisation has also been connecting existing roads as per the requirement of armed forces.