What are green bunkers being prepared near LAC to protect Indian Army in subzero temperatures

Indian soldiers risk their lives to protect the country. For their safety, soldiers of India live hiding in bunkers. These bunkers save soldiers from the enemy as well as the vagaries of nature like extreme cold at high altitudes. India is now planning to build green bunkers on LAC.

What is a green bunker?

According to media reports, India is building dozens of bunkers. At least 120 soldiers will live in these bunkers on the China border. The special thing about these bunkers will be that all the soldiers will be able to fight against the enemy even at temperatures below zero.

Why are such bunkers being built?

Amid the recent wars with China and Pakistan, Indian soldiers have often faced extreme cold and harsh weather conditions. In view of this, the Home Ministry has decided to commission these special insulated bunkers. Earlier bunkers were mostly wooden or concrete structures covered with sandbags and provided less protection from harsh climate or enemy country's soldiers.

How will these bunkers work?

The new bunkers will be quite comfortable. Air conditioning will be run in these bunkers through solar panels which will help in keeping the soldiers warm. These bunkers will be safe enough for more than 100 soldiers to withstand temperatures below minus 30 degrees Celsius. 

There is no electricity system in the area at an altitude of 15,000 feet above sea level. Keeping this in view, the buildings or bunkers have been designed using green features like solar thermal, solar photovoltaic and geothermal fresh air technology. This will enable the temperature inside the bunker to remain higher than outside.

COY level building built at ITBP Lukung border post

India shares a 3,488 km long disputed border with China. This includes 1,597 km border in Eastern Ladakh, 545 km border in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, 220 km border in Sikkim and 1,126 km border in Arunachal Pradesh. 

Army sources said the country has already constructed a permanent integrated COY (company) level building, of approximately 27,000 sq ft, at the border outpost of ITBP Lukung at Leh, as a pilot project, Army sources said. The Union home ministry launched the pilot project in 2016 for ITBP jawans.

The Union Home Ministry had launched a pilot project for ITBP jawans in 2016. According to the Army, DRDO has also designed state-of-the-art bunkers to deal with psychological fatigue under 'Project Dhruv'. The Sela Tunnel inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 9 is one such advanced project.