World's highest motorable road to soon have a new address

Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is going to lay a new road in Ladakh which will eventually replace Umling La as the world's highest motorable road soon. On Tuesday, August 15, the BRO took to social media platforms to make the announcment on the occasion of the 77th Independence Day. The new road, called Likaru-Mig La-Fukche, will be around 100 feet higher than Umling La. The current height of world's highest motorable road is 19,300 feet.

On Tuesday, BRO announced that it has already started to construct this new road. which will be part of India's strategic road network along the sensitive border region. According to the BRO, the Likaru-Mig La-Fukche road will pass through an altitude of 19,400 feet and will be the world's highest motorable road surpassing the Umling La Pass.

The new road, which will be constructed barely three kilometres away from Line of Actual Control with China, will offer connectivity with Fukche. The area has an advanced landing pad for the armed forces. The road will provide key road connectivity with Ladakh valley and rest of India. The Border Roads Organisation has not shared any timeline by when the new road will be complete and whether it will be accessible for civilians as well.

Umling La is the highest point of the 52 km-long Chisumle-Demchok road located in southern Ladakh, about 100 kms away from Hanle village. At 19,300 feet, the Umling La Pass stands higher than the Everest Base Camp in Nepal. The road also offers connectivity to several key towns in the Chumar sector of eastern Ladakh. The Chisumle-Demchok road is especially significant because, as per a Hindustan Times report, it will assist in easier movement of military vehicles near the border areas with China. The Chisumle-Demchok is touted as an engineering marvel because construction at such a high altitude comes with its significant set of challenges.