Surface connectivity to strategically important Himalayan border with Tibet/ China from Pithoragarh continues to remain disrupted for about six months.
The Tawaghat-Sobla Road which is fag end of the Pithorgarh-Dharchula-Tawaghat national highway and was badly damaged by natural calamities this monsoon months at many places is yet to be repaired.
The Border Road Organisation (BRO) has been assigned the task of restoring mobility on this extremely important national highway, as the officials concerned of the Pithoragarh district administration said.
Road connectivity has been restored in other parts of the district. But mobility is yet to be restored on the Tawaghat –Sobla Road, said Dr Neeraj Khairwal, District Magistrate, Pithoragarh, while talking to The Pioneer in an exclusive interview. The BRO is carrying out the repair works on this road stretch. Hopefully, transport services would be restored on this road stretch soon, he added.
Though road repair works are on at war footing on the said Tawaghat- Sobla Road for long, adverse weather conditions that badly hit the road connectivity during monsoon season this year, may again play a spoilsport in carrying out the repair works on the Tawaghat –Sobla Road as occurrence of snowfall during these days of winter in such areas of the Himalayan zones also comes as an obstruction in carrying out the relief operations including road repair works.
It is to note that India is still far behind in term of having at least minimum basic infrastructure on this Himalayan front in Uttarakhand’s border districts like Pithoragarh.
There is no motorable road beyond Tawaghat/ Sobla region to approach the last end of the border with Tibet/Chian.
Among others the devotees of the Kailash Mansarvoar pilgrimage and traders of the India Tibet Border Trade have still to rely on narrow and risky by-lanes to reach their destinations across the border in this tougher Himalayan sector.
Apart from the main border roads, the intercity roads and the State highways that connect different important destinations within the border districts like Pithoragarh are also not in proper shape.
Hundreds of people remaining stranded in upper pockets of the Pithoragarh during monsoon season this year for many days due to poor road connectivity only gives that impression.
Even use of air transport services remained restricted to airlift these stranded people from upper regions of Pithoragarh like Munsiyari due to bad weather conditions during rainy season this year for many days.
The matter of concerns is that despite having such poor experience of carrying out relief operations in difficult times of this monsoon season, the State Government seems to have done little from these‘bitter’ experience of the past.
Except carrying out the routine road repair works, the State Government has allegedly done nothing to improve the mobility in hilly terrain of the Himalayan State.
The only new thing that the State Government has done is that it has demanded handing over of the key roads in border areas from BRO to the state owned agency PWD.
However, even the Opposition party leaders and experts have already expressed their concern over this decision of the State Government.
They are of the view that the PWD has not been able to carry out the basic repair or maintenance works on its roads even after passing about six months of the monsoon season, how can it carry out the heavy border road project worksIJ