India builds tunnels to link Kashmir Valley with strategic Ladakh

Ladakh shares de facto borders with Pakistan and China and depends on air supplies for about six months of the year.

High in a rocky Himalayan mountain range in the Indian-administered Kashmir, hundreds of people are working on an ambitious project to drill tunnels and construct bridges to connect the Kashmir Valley with Ladakh, a cold, desert region isolated for half of the year because of massive snowfall.

Strategically important Ladakh shares de facto borders with Pakistan and China and currently depends on air supplies for about six months of the year.

Officials say a 6.5-km (four-mile) tunnel, the first of four, is already complete and will make the resort town of Sonamarg accessible during the winter months for the first time.