While both the Government of India and Uttarakhand Government appear to be proactive on building the Rishikesh – Karnprayag railway line for developmental and strategic reasons, successive Governments appear to have ignored a stretch of the Joshimath- Malari border road that has been without a layer of tar for about one decade now.
Officials state that geological factors have prevented the tar layering from being laid, while adding that the required work will be started in the next month.
A stretch of the Joshimath-Malari road which provides link to the Indo-Tibet border region has been without tar surface for more than 10 years now. This stretch of the border road about one kilometer in length from AT Company to Parsari has been without tar for more than a decade. As a result, during the rains, this stretch of the road becomes slippery which creates problems for those taking vehicles through this stretch of the road. Vehicle owner Manoj Rawat states that vehicle users face various problems on this stretch of the road due to its improper condition.
Due to the road being sans tar for many years, the vehicles plied here also sustain damage earlier, he added. Meanwhile, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is set to resolve this problem in the near future. The BRO command officer R Subramaniyam states that the required work could not be done yet on the road due to its location being in a sink zone. However, work will start next month on this stretch of the road which will also be given a tar surface, he informed.