Away from the standoff, Indian Army battled the elements to secure LAC
While the nation’s eyes were riveted on the war of eyeballs at Doklam, the Indian Army was battling another set of adversities on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Uttarakhand just so as to be prepared should any hostilities break out. A visit to the frontier by The New Indian Express, even as the ‘expeditious disengagement’ at Doklam was being announced, brought home the odds India’s military faces in securing India’s borders in this arc of the LAC.
The path up to Barahoti, Niti Pass and other areas close to the LAC is treacherous. It’s a narrow snaky path with the sheer drop of the mountain on one side and a steep valley on the other. Landslides and shooting stones are a possibility at any time. A misjudgment by an inch or two can result in a plunge down the valley with absolutely no hope of survival. Get caught in a landslide and there is no guarantee how long one could be stuck here without help.
There’s no mobile phone connectivity throughout the 100 km stretch and not a single fuel station. Plus, at heights above 16,000 ft, oxygen is rare and high-altitute pulmonary oedema can be a killer. In case the situation demands travel at night, this is nothing but a deadly game of Russian roulette.
Ever since the Doklam standoff began between India and China, hundreds of trucks transported artillery equipment and thousands of men up this treacherous stretch from Josihmath to the LAC. The heavy movement of artillery and troops was carried out amid fears that a ‘limited action’ could take place on this front instead of at Doklam. Repeated incursions by Chinese troops here indicated that possibility.
In sharp contrast to the metal-topped roads, rail links, air strips, radar systems, fuel depots and other state-of-the-art infrastructure on the Chinese side, the Indian Army convoys which were moved to Joshimath from different places were vastly hampered by the poor infrastructure on the Indian side. p9
Some of the units arrived here from Dehradun, about 300 km away, after navigating landslide-prone zig-zagging roads. But their hardest task was the last 100 km stretch from Joshimath to Barahoti and Niti Pass.
To travel from Joshimath to Niti Pass, civilians need an Inner Line Permit from the office of the sub-divisional magistrate in Joshimath. At Tapovan, some 15 km beyond Josihmath, mobile phones go dead. Further along starts a dangerously slushy path which can bring vehicles to the brink if not driven carefully.
http://www.newindianexpress.com/nat...ed-the-elements-to-secure-lac-1653920--1.html
