Even as the Centre is getting ready to inaugurate the Nathu la pass route to Kailash Mansarovar later this month, the alternate route of the religious pilgrimage from Uttarakhand, is expected to be delayed by a year.
And quite literally, the major roadblock is a rock, 10-metre-wide and 50-metre-long, at Gunji, about 65 kms from Pithogarh. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which is constructing the 75-km, two-lane motorable stretch, has told the Minsitry of of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) that lack of rock cutting machinery was turning out to be a major impediment.
“Work on first 40 kms has been mostly smooth, but thereafter it is progressing at snail pace. We are able to cut no more than 2-3 metres of road on a daily basis. We are making all efforts to mobilise man and machinery in the area to get the work completed at the earliest,” said an official from MoRTH, overseeing the construction activity in the area.
“Non-availability of labour and the limited working season was always a big problem, but at the moment we are stuck because of machinery,” he said.
The 75-km stretch connects, Tawaghat to Ghatiabagarh (30 kms) to Gunji (15 kms) to lipulekh pass (30 kms).
“The stretch from Tawaghat to Ghatiabagarh is mostly on the lower terrains so the work completed fairly quickly, barring some 20 kms, where we faced some farmer protests for fear of poor compensation,” said the official.
“The real challenge is in the upper terrain as once the monsoon sets in, work will come to an abrupt halt. At the moment we are waiting for transporting rock-cutting machinery as that will expedite work,” he said.
Building a motorable route to Kailash Mansarovar is high on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda. “Under directions from the PMO, we are also trying to fasttrack work, although a fixed deadline is difficult to give,” said the official.
Currently, there is a non-motorable route, where a 22-day trek is conducted for pilgrims by the Ministry of External Affairs with assistance from the Border Roads Organisation under the Ministry of Defence but it is in a bad shape and with every rain some portions of the route get washed away.
“Once this two-way road is in place, the journey will be completed in a day. This will also give a big boost to the tourism in Uttarakhand,” he said.
The official refused to give specific details on the expenditure incurred in the construction. “There is no specific budget for this project as it is difficult to estimate because of uncertain conditions. Roughly, we are spending about Rs3-4 crores for every kilometer, particularly in the higher reaches,” he said.