HIMACHAL TO TAKEUPTARDY PACE OF WORK WITH CENTRE

SHIMLA: In the wake of China fasttracking it’s infrastructure along the Indian border, the slow pace of road construction on the Indian frontiers has drawn the attention of Centre.

Himachal is likely to raise the issue of slow pace of work on its border roads with China during a conclave of five Himalayan states — J&K, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand — convened by home minister Rajnath Singh at Gangtok on Saturday.

The progress on road between Kaurik and Wangtoo on national highway connecting Ferozepur to Shipki La, a village close to the China border in Kinnaur, has been going on at snail’s pace since 2010. Shipki La Pass is used for cross-border trade between the two countries. The trade route was closed after the Chinese aggression in 1962, but was reopened after India and China signed a protocol in 1994.

Central government in 2010 allocated ₹300 crore to Borders Roads organisation for widening the road from Wangtoo to Kaurik. But the work came to a halt following a dispute between the organisation and the contractor.

“The road widening should have been completed in 2013. The slow pace of work has also led to escalation in the construction cost. It’s just that there is lack of coordination between Border Road organisation, state public works department (PWD) and contractors executing the work,” said deputy speaker of Vidhan Sabha Jagat Singh Negi. He added that he has been consistently raising the issues of road repair with the organisation.

The Centre is at present constructing 73 roads along the border. Of these, 27 roads with a total length of 804.9km are being constructed by the Union home ministry in J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.