Focus: GS-III Industry and Infrastructure, GS-II International Relations
Why in news?
Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) road joining Leh to the Karakoram Pass has been in the making for around two decades and is expected to be completed by 2020.
Details
- The road from Darbuk traverses at an altitude of 14,000 feet and reaches Shyok, the last Indian village in the region.
- Between Shyok and Karakoram Pass (that divides Ladakh from China’s Xinjiang province) lies Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO).
- From the DSDBO road, a road branches off towards Galwan Valley, a hill feature, which India wants to protect because it overlooks the area around the main road. The branch road has prompted the stand-off in Galwan Valley.
Significance of DBO
- Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) is a historic campsite and current military base located on an ancient trade route connecting Ladakh to the Tarim Basin.
- DBO is on a plateau at an altitude of over 16,000 feet and is the location of an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) used by the air force to drop supplies.
- DBO is India’s northernmost corner, which in army parlance is called Sub-Sector North, and building a road till here has been of vital importance to India.
- DBO is located only 9 km away from the Line of Actual Control with China and the road will help manage the border and the areas adjoining Aksai Chin, Chip Chap River and Jiwan Nalla.
- It will also ensure faster deployment of troops in the area. Before the laying of the road, the only way to reach the area was via the ALG, where heavy-lift aircraft, such as the C-130J, can land.
- It is named after Sultan Said Khan (Daulat Beg), who died here on his return journey after the invasion of Ladakh and Kashmir.
-Source: Economic Times
