Ushering in a new era in border area connectivity, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced the achievement of road connectivity by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) from Dharchula to Lipulekh (China border) commonly known as Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra route in Pithoragarh district on Friday. He also flagged off a convoy of vehicles from Pithoragarh to Gunji through video conferencing.
The construction of this road is of considerable strategic importance while also bringing major relief for pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar and Adi Kailash.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh said that the Central Government and the Prime Minister have an exclusive vision for the development of remote areas. Congratulating the BRO engineers and personnel whose dedication made this achievement possible, he said that BRO has been actively involved in the development of Garhwal and Kumaon region of Uttrakhand since the beginning.
BRO director general, lieutenant general Harpal Singh said that the construction of this road was hampered due to multiple problems. Constant snowfall, steep rise in altitude and extremely low temperatures restrict the working season to five months.
The working season coincide with the Yatra, move of locals from lower to higher reaches (in the beginning of season) and back to lower reaches (in the end of season), of traders (for trade with China), the move of logistic columns of security forces thus further reducing the daily hours for construction.
In addition, there were numerous flash floods and cloudbursts over last few years which led to extensive damages. In the initial 20 kilometres, the mountains have hard rock and are near vertical due to which BRO has lost many lives and 25 equipments were also badly damaged due to falling into Kali river. Despite all odds, in last two years, BRO could increase its output by 20 times by creating multiple attack points and inducting modern technology equipment.
The newly commissioned Chinook helicopters were pressed into service by Indian Air Force to induct 132 tonnes of stores/ equipment into this sector.
Congratulating the chief engineer and the entire team of Project Hirak for this achievement, the DG also expressed his gratitude to Uttarakhand administration and was hopeful that the road connectivity will resolve the hardships faced by the locals, traders, security forces deployed in the sector and pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar and Adi-Kailash.
The Darchula – Lipulekh road is an extension of Pithoragarh-Tawaghat-Ghatiabagarh road. It originates from Ghatiabagarh and terminates at Lipulekh Pass, the gateway to Kailash Mansarovar. In this 80 kilometre road, the altitude rises from 6000 feet to 17,060 feet.
With the completion of this project, the arduous trek through treacherous high altitude terrain can now be avoided by the pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar and the period of journey will be reduced by many days. At present the travel to Kailash Mansarovar takes around two to three weeks through Sikkim or Nepal routes. Lipulekh route had a trek of 90 kilometres through high altitude terrain and the elderly pilgrims faced lot of difficulties.
The event was also attended by the chief of defence staff general Bipin Rawat, army chief general MM Naravane and defence secretary Ajay Kumar among others.