New Delhi: One of the most ambitious projects of building all whether road connecting Ladakh has been halted for the past four days. No work has taken place on the strategic 8.8km long Rohtang tunnel, as more than 500 workers had gone on strike, citing violation of labour laws.

Workers began their protest on March 27 as the private firms -German group Strabag and Indian firm AFCON Infrastructure Limited, which have been engaged for the construction of the tunnel, failed to pacify them on Saturday, which resulted in continuation of the strike.

The protesting workers have threatened to remain on strike until their demands are met or a concrete solution is formed for their issues. The workers’ body - Himachal Pradesh NirmaanKaamgaarSangh - claimed to be affiliated to RSS’s BhartiyaMazdoorSangh. The body is demanding to bring all workers under labour laws and also call back the labourers who were sent home.

Their 13-point demand charter read, “We live in unhygienic conditions. Despite repeated requests, no improvements have been made. Food timings are odd and sitting arrangement is not proper.”

The association’s president Dharmender Singh said, “Talks should be held in a positive atmosphere to resolve the issues of workers.” He claimed, “We are forced to go on strike as our demands charter was trashed earlier. We were harassed by contractors.”

The digging work of the 8.8-km long all-weather tunnel, which began in 2010, has been completed. However, the civil work is on and will be completed by 2019. The tunnel connects Dhundhi (south portal)ofKullu district and Sissu, (north portal) of Lahaul and Spiti district.