World’s highest motorable road, higher than Umling La, to come up in Ladakh!

It is reported that the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has initiated the process of building a 64 km extended Likaru-Mig La-Fukche roadway near Hanle, situated in the Demchok sector of Eastern Ladakh. Once this route becomes operational, the road will achieve the distinction of world’s highest motorable road at an elevation of 19,400 ft at Mig La.

At present, the crown of the world's highest motorable road rests with Umling La in Ladakh, which is positioned at an elevation of 19,024 ft. It’s a 52 km road that links Chishumle to Demchok, precisely along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), a contentious area between India and China.
If reports are to go by, a team of female BRO engineers commenced construction on this route recently. The upcoming roadway, which links Likaru and Fukche, holds significant importance in facilitating armed forces' access to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), extending throughout the Indus valley in Fukche and extending up to Demchok.
Fukche is merely three kilometers away from the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh.

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Referring to this, a BRO officer added that the Chushul-Dungti-Fukche-Demchok (CDFD) road runs parallel to the LAC, and that the new road will be a feeder road to reach CDFD, which means it will shorten the time taken to reach the LAC. Apart from it being of strategic importance, the road will also lead to socio-economic development of adjacent villages.
Reportedly, a budget of approximately INR 520 crore was set aside for the construction of the new road.

Also, it’s important to note that the region is susceptible to heavy snowfall, with temperatures plummeting to minus 10-20 degrees Celsius in summers, and minus 40 degrees in winters.

Explaining the geography of the area, Lt. Gen. Rakesh Sharma (retired), who commanded the Fire and Fury Corps in Ladakh, said that the Indus river enters from Tibet at Demchok and goes 75 km between the Kailash range and Ladakh range before it turns westwards, splitting the Ladakh range at Dungti.
He added that this used to be the only road to access up to Demchok through Dungti. There was always a need to have an additional road — axials in military parlance — connecting Chumar sector and Hanle sector to the Indus Valley, he further informed.