New Guwahati: On November 16, 2021, Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry, Director General Border Roads (DGBR), obtained a Guinness World Records certification for the Border Roads Organization (BRO) building and blacktopping the world's highest motorable road at 19,024 feet at Umlingla Pass in Ladakh.
Rishi Nath, an official assessor of the Guinness World Records headquartered in the United Kingdom, recognised BRO's outstanding feat in constructing the world's highest altitude road in a digital ceremony. Five separate surveyors validated the claim over the course of a four-month procedure conducted by Guinness World Records.
The 52-kilometer Chisumle to Demchok tarmac road crosses through the 19,024-foot-high Umlingla Pass, breaking the previous Bolivian record of 18,953-foot-high volcano Uturuncu. The Umlingla Pass road, which has been built at an altitude higher than the North and South Base Camps of Mount Everest, which are at 16,900 feet and 17,598 feet respectively, is another milestone in resurgent India's success.
DGBR Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry spoke at the event about the difficulties encountered during in the road construction to Umlingla Pass, which he described as "testing both the human spirit and the efficacy of machines in an extremely difficult terrain where winter temperatures drop to -40 degrees and oxygen levels are 50% below normal."
The BRO built a blacktop road to the key village of Demchok in Eastern Ladakh, which will benefit the local community by improving socioeconomic circumstances and promoting tourism in the region. The 15-kilometre-long route, which is strategically vital, demonstrates the government's priority on constructing road infrastructure in border areas.
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