New Delhi:In a boost to connectivity, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) connected the strategic Nimmu-Padam-Darcha road in Ladakh on March 25. This 298-km road will connect Manali to Leh through Darcha and Nimmu on the Kargil–Leh Highway. The road is now the third axis apart from Manali-Leh and Srinagar-Leh, which connects Ladakh to the hinterland, a press statement said on Tuesday.
As per the statement, the Nimmu-Padam-Darcha road derives its strategic importance from the fact that it is not only shorter vis-a-vis the other two axes, but crosses only one pass; Shinkun La (16,558 feet) on which tunnel work is about to commence by the BRO. This will result in the road having all-weather connectivity to the Ladakh region. The connectivity will strengthen the defence preparedness and provide a boost to the economic development in the Zanskar Valley.