Even as China has constructed more than 10,000 km of roads connecting the Tibetan plateau with mainland, thereby, ensuring uninterrupted logistical support to its troops on the line of Actual Control (lAC), India is lagging far behind in strengthening strategic road network. Out of the 73 identified roads, only 19 are ready and most of the projects are running five to seven years behind schedule.
The 73-strategic road project was cleared more than a decade back with special focus on having roads in all the States facing China — including Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Most of these roads were initially planned to be operational in 2012 but the revised schedule has shifted the completion year to 2018.
Admitting delays in this critical project of national importance, the Government informed Parliament recently that Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was entrusted with building 61 roads known as India-China Border Roads (ICBR). The total length of these roads is 3,410 km and “which were planned to be completed by 2012,” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said in a written reply in the lok Sabha.
Giving the break-up of roads completed, he said out of 61 ICBRs, 19 roads of length 625 km were ready and connectivity was achieved on 24 roads. The revised completion schedule for 42 ICBRs is 16 roads this year, 13 roads in 2016, nine roads in 2017, two roads in 2018 and two roads beyond 2018.
Explaining the reasons for delay, he said these included delay in forest and wildlife clearance, hard rock stretches, limited working season, difficulties in availability of construction material and delay in land acquisition. Moreover, resources were diverted due to natural disasters like flash flood in leh in 2010, floods in Jammu & Kashmir in 2014 and earthquake in Sikkim in 2011.
lack of road infrastructure has put the Indian Army at a distinct disadvantage vis-à-vis China. It has built roads right up to the lAC whereas the Indian troops have to trek for three to four days from the nearest road head to the forward locations. Moreover, sustaining these troops through air is more expensive and the delay in road construction adds up to expenditure every year.
Also, the gradient on the Chinese side is gentle as compared to sheer heights in States like Arunachal Pradesh thereby making it difficult to build roads there, officials said. Coupled with this factor, heavy snow and rains provide a window of not more than four to five months to the BRO to construct or maintain roads in these remote areas, they said.
listing out the steps to hasten the strategic road project, Parrikar informed Parliament that Chief Secretaries of various States were requested to constitute empowered committees under their chairmanship with secretaries of concerned departments as members to resolve issues related to land acquisition, forest and wildlife clearance and allotment of quarries.
Soon after coming to power in May last year, the NDA Government also allowed the BRO to build roads with permission and acquire land for this purpose within area of 100 kms from lAC to cut down delays. This approval was given by Ministry of Environment and Forest under Section 2 of Forest Conservation Act 1980 for diversion of forest land for construction or widening of roads entrusted to BRO.
The Government has allowed outsourcing to augment capacity of BRO besides enhancing financial and administrative powers to the executives of BRO, he said. long-Term Roll on Work Plan (lTROWP) and long Term Equipment Plan (lTEP) were also approved, the Minister said.