With the tensions mounting between India and China after the violent face off in Galwan valley in Ladakh, the government has sped up the repair and construction of strategically important national highways running through Himachal Pradesh that connect frontier regions in Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts.
Dissatisfied with the poor maintenance of NH 505 that connects Kaza-Sumdo and Gramphu, the Himachal Pradesh Public Works department has taken over the road from the Indian military’s road construction wing, the Border Road Organisation (BRO), which is responsible for construction and maintenance of roads in border areas.
The government took over the road from the BRO on the orders of the principal secretary of the government of India. The Kaza PWD executive engineer will be responsible for the maintenance of the highway.
“The restoration work is still in progress. The PWD department has spent approximately Rs 13 lakh on clearing snow from the road,” said national highways’ chief engineer Archarna Parmar Thakur.
The national highway had remained snowbound till May-end as the BRO had shifted the snow clearance machinery to other roads abandoning the work halfway.
160KM STRETCH OPENED TO TRAFFIC
In the wake of escalated tensions between Chinese and Indian troops in Ladakh over the boundary dispute in Galwan valley, the Himachal Pradesh Public Works department swung into action to clear the road that was buried under 15 to 20 feet of snow. The 160-kilometre road stretch was finally opened to vehicular traffic on June 15. The roads is used by the defense to ensure movement of its vehicles to forward areas.
The public works department has drawn an estimate of Rs 4 crore for the construction and maintenance of the highway.
{{/usCountry}}The public works department has drawn an estimate of Rs 4 crore for the construction and maintenance of the highway.
{{/usCountry}}The PWD drew up the estimates on the basis of a survey conducted by SATRA Infrastructure Management Services.
A detailed project report has already been submitted to the government for upgrading the highway to 210km.
“Tenders to upgrade the highway will be floated shortly,” she said.
The ministry of surface transport has also approved the proposed alignment the road that was submitted to the PWD through the BRO.
TENDER AWARDED FOR PATCH WORK
The national highway authority has also assigned patch work on the highway stretch connecting Shimla –Kalka-Wangtoo and the stretch connecting Shalaghat to the road junction link near Panthaghatti in Shimla . The work has been awarded to MVD Cementation and Construction Private Limited.
Pending work on NH-22 will be completed by July- end. The scarcity of skilled labour, particularly from Rajasthan, has slowed down work.