SRINAGAR, Oct 7:
Braving serious challenges in hard terrains, the Border Roads Organisations (BRO) is confident of bringing about a marked difference in road infrastructure along India’s frontiers in the next two years.
“By 2014, you will see a marked difference across the borders. Combining both big and small schemes, we are working on more than 2,000 road projects (along the borders),” Director General, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Lt General S Ravi Shankar told.
These highways schemes are being executed through BRO’s 18 projects including Beacon, Arunank, Brahmank and Dantak for which it has a budgetary provision of about Rs 5,000 crore for projects a year, Lt Gen Shankar said.
Elaborating on existing projects, he said while the BRO will construct a 6.5 km tunnel at Z-Morh between Gagangir and Sonamarg on NH-1 in Srinagar, it is set to execute another 13 km tunnel at Zojila to provide all-weather connectivity from Srinagar to Leh, which remains cut-off for six to seven months during winter.
Both the tunnels would be built at a total cost of Rs 8,217 crore.
About Z-Morh tunnel, foundation stone of which was laid by Road Transport and Highways Minister C P Joshi on Friday, the BRO chief said it took more than a year to prepare its feasibility study.
“It will be completed ahead of schedule” despite the fact that workers in the extreme conditions can work only for four to five months as the area remains buried under snow for six months, he said.
As per the schedule, the project is expected to be completed by August 2018.
“The second tunnel at Zojila’s feasibility study is at final stage…In another six month’s time, they can start the construction,” he said.
It is also executing Rs 1,459 crore Rohtang Tunnel, which is 8.8 km long.
Besides, the BRO is looking at to build at least five more tunnels to link different regions in Jammu & Kashmir which remains cut-off from the rest of areas during during winter.
Plans are also afoot to build a tunnel to link Gurez Valley with Srinagar and another tunnel at Sadhna Pass besides a tunnel between Sinthan and Singpura in Kishtwar district of Jammu.
Besides, the BRO chief said the Organisation is executing a host of other projects including Campbell Bay to Indira Point, which is the southern most part of India, a road project in Ladakh and has completed projects in Bhutan and Afghanistan.
Asked about the problems like militancy and law and order faced by BRO, Lt Gen Shankar said, “Since Border Roads have completed more than 50 years, locals have started recognising our efforts. The militants problems, hence is relatively less. There is a kind of bond with people, which helps us.”
The BRO has constructed 50,300 km of roads in far-flung areas of 16 States, including new construction, widening of single lane highways so far besides building 99 major bridges in the country in five decades of its existence.
It has earned the reputation constructing and maintaining roads in the most inhospitable terrains and altitudes. (PTI)
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