By Anand Singh

New Delhi, Jun 1 (IANS): The Border Road Organisation (BRO) has sought the railways' permission to operate special trains from Jharkhand to bring labourers for construction of major projects in Leh, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, J&K and Uttarakhand, bordering China.

The request comes amid Jharkhand air-lifting 57 stranded labourers working for road projects in Leh and Kargil last week.

A senior BRT officer told IANS, here on Monday, around 8,200 workers were required for projects in Ladakh and 2,500 for projects in J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Commander Kaushik Mitra of the BRTF under Project Vijayak told IANS, "We require around 8,200 labourers for construction of roads along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between Kargil and Leh districts."

In normal situation, workers arrived on their own in April, but this time due to lockdown they couldn't come, he said and added, to facilitate their inductions, recruitment teams had been sent.

"It's essential to let the pace of development of strategic infrastructure not get impeded," Mitra said and added, the BRO had taken the MHA's sanction and sent request to the railways.

He said two projects of the BRT -- Vijayak and Himank -- were in in the Ladakh, one project in J&K (known as Beacon), one project each in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

To bring labourers, he said, "We tie up with the district administration". They are brought from Dumka and Deoghar districts in Jharkhand."

The BRO teams reached Dumka and Deoghar districts on May 30 and were coordinating with the district administration and the railways, he said. "Before bringing them here, we take their consent," he said.

According to railways officials, the trains will drop the migrant workers at Udhampur, from where they will be taken to Leh, Ladakh, Srinagar and Kargil areas.

Similarly, for BRO projects in Himachal Pradesh, the labourers can be transported to Shimla and in Uttarakhand to the nearest railway stations.