Delay hits China border road plans - The Times of India
DEHRADUN: Alleged bureaucratic delays, held-up environmental clearances and antiquated construction equipment have left the India-China Border Roads Project in Uttarakhand in the doldrums. Till now, according to sources, only one stretch of the prioritized border road project has entered the second phase of construction.
None of the 19 "critical and strategically important" India-China border roads being constructed in the state have been able to meet the December 2012 deadline. Last year's Uttarakhand deluge has not helped either. The roads that were constructed had to be relaid again.
The Border Roads Organization (BRO) and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) are constructing 10 India-China border roads in various areas under the jurisdiction of the Indian Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and nine under that of the Indian Army in Uttarakhand.
According to records accessed by TOI, the second stage of construction work- the surfacing of roads- has begun only on a 2.54km-long stretch of the ITBP's border priority road between Ghastoli and Rattakona in Chamoli district. The BRO had initially started constructing this 17.95km-long border road in May 2009 and was aiming to finish it by December 2012.
None of the other nine ITBP border roads in Uttarakhand have been able to reach the surfacing stage yet and are still stuck at the first stage of construction work, which is essentially the formation cutting.
Sources cite lack of adequate manpower and equipment for the delay along with deferred environmental clearances. "Commencement of construction work in most of our roads in Uttarakhand has been withheld because of no environmental clearance," says IS Negi, chief of the northern frontier of ITBP. "These strategically important roads fall in some ecologically fragile environmental zones in the state and require a clearance from the ministry of forest and environment."
Construction work on nine border roads of the Indian Army, crucial for the forces' movement in the area, is crawling at a snail's pace too. A senior army official says that they are planning to outsource road construction works to private agencies.
While both the BRO and the CPWD attribute the delay mainly to the limited number of working months in tough hilly terrain of Uttarakhand, the ITBP and the army rebut this theory, arguing that the construction agencies should have considered this before setting the 2012 deadline.
DEHRADUN: Alleged bureaucratic delays, held-up environmental clearances and antiquated construction equipment have left the India-China Border Roads Project in Uttarakhand in the doldrums. Till now, according to sources, only one stretch of the prioritized border road project has entered the second phase of construction.
None of the 19 "critical and strategically important" India-China border roads being constructed in the state have been able to meet the December 2012 deadline. Last year's Uttarakhand deluge has not helped either. The roads that were constructed had to be relaid again.
The Border Roads Organization (BRO) and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) are constructing 10 India-China border roads in various areas under the jurisdiction of the Indian Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and nine under that of the Indian Army in Uttarakhand.
According to records accessed by TOI, the second stage of construction work- the surfacing of roads- has begun only on a 2.54km-long stretch of the ITBP's border priority road between Ghastoli and Rattakona in Chamoli district. The BRO had initially started constructing this 17.95km-long border road in May 2009 and was aiming to finish it by December 2012.
None of the other nine ITBP border roads in Uttarakhand have been able to reach the surfacing stage yet and are still stuck at the first stage of construction work, which is essentially the formation cutting.
Sources cite lack of adequate manpower and equipment for the delay along with deferred environmental clearances. "Commencement of construction work in most of our roads in Uttarakhand has been withheld because of no environmental clearance," says IS Negi, chief of the northern frontier of ITBP. "These strategically important roads fall in some ecologically fragile environmental zones in the state and require a clearance from the ministry of forest and environment."
Construction work on nine border roads of the Indian Army, crucial for the forces' movement in the area, is crawling at a snail's pace too. A senior army official says that they are planning to outsource road construction works to private agencies.
While both the BRO and the CPWD attribute the delay mainly to the limited number of working months in tough hilly terrain of Uttarakhand, the ITBP and the army rebut this theory, arguing that the construction agencies should have considered this before setting the 2012 deadline.
