A satellite image accessed by NDTV indicates that China has stepped up its road construction activity in the Doklam plateau to ensure that all-weather access is maintained into the region where India and China were involved in a stand-off in 2017. The August 2019 image here is of an over-ground "tunnel" that shelters part of the key northern access route through the high-altitude Merug La pass. A satellite image from October, seen by this correspondent indicates that Chinese construction workers have extended the length of the "tunnel" on this stretch to 500 metres.
