Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh): A team of villagers from Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district said that they have spotted road construction on the Chinese side of the border.
A team of nine persons from the Charang village of the district had gone towards the border, around 22 kilometres from their village, along with horses and a few paramilitary forces.
The reconnaissance team observed that China has built around 20 kilometres of road close to the border, giving rise to apprehensions that it might also be planning to extend the road into the buffer zone or no man's land.
The team said that in October last year, there existed a road only till Tango, the last Tibetan village on the Chinese side of the border. However, the road has now been extended for 20 more kilometres towards the border with India.
On the other hand, in Kinnaur's Sangla valley, behind Chitkul, road construction is also going on by China towards Yamrang La. According to locals on the Indian side, drones have been spotted in the area multiple times during the night.
Earlier on June 8, Buddhist monks spotted around 20 drones hovering at Rangrik Tumma near Charang.
Locals said that the sight of such drones in the area has become common.
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According to villagers who had gone on a recce near the Khimokul pass, said that China just has two kilometres of road left to be built near the border.
They said that around five earthmovers and several huge dumpers are currently engaged in the road construction work. The villagers, who conducted recce for six days, said that construction work is speeded up in the night.
They also said they heard loud sounds of explosions, meaning that explosives are being used by the Chinese in the road construction work.
Meanwhile, the sight on the Indian side is in stark contrast, with the roads in poor condition and cell reception next to none. While the road till Charang village requires repairs, the 22-kilometre trek towards the border is extremely dangerous.
One has to go at least 14 kilometres away from the village for cell reception.
Locals said that shepherds are no longer allowed to go near the border. Earlier, shepherds use to relay information to the authorities about the developments on the other side of the border.
Meanwhile, the agencies are on alert following the development, with intelligence officials already having left on an inspection of the border areas.
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