Indian is planning to set up a cable car system to link army posts on the Siachen glacier -- known as the world's highest battlefield, local press reports said Wednesday.
"A number of aerial cables will be built to link several posts at an altitude of 16,000 feet to 22,000 feet (4,800 meters to 6,600 meters)," the Greater Kashmir newspaper quoted a defense source as saying.
The network will be built by a Japanese firm, which won the contract from some French and German competitors.
It was not clear if the cable cars would be used to move military personnel as well as supplies.
The 77-kilometre (48-mile) long Siachen glacier traverses the Line of Control separating Indian and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir at a height of 24,300 feet (7,363 meters) above sea level.
Winter temperatures on the glacier plummet to minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 Fahreinheit), with blizzards gusting at speeds of 160-kilometres (100 miles) per hour.
Maintaining a military presence on Siachen exerts a heavy human and financial toll on both sides, even though military commanders admit the strategic worth of the glacier is negligible.
India reportedly spends more than 40 million rupees (one million dollars) daily on its Siachen deployment -- a figure that does not include additional wages and bonuses.
According to the defense source, the cable system would cut the costs of supplying the troops -- a task currently carried out at great expense by special high-altitude helicopters -- SRINAGAR (AFP)
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