MHA plans to build 48 roads along China border

We have sent a proposal to build 48 more roads as we want better access for our troops. Many border outposts are still cut off from the main areas and supplies have to be airdropped. We have sent a proposal for the second phase of roads and we hope to get sanctions soon, said a senior official.

Officials said one of the roads in Himachal Pradesh was stuck due to lack of forest clearance and the construction on two roads never began as the alignment was not favourable. The roads,measuring 134-km in length to be built at a cost of Rs 159 crore,were sanctioned by the MHA in 2008. The three roads are Chitkul- Dumti 20.75 kms in Himachal Pradesh,Marmang-Thimbu-Mago-Chuna 83 km in Arunachal Pradesh and Thangu-Muguthang 31 km in Sikkim.

A meeting was convened at the MHA recently to discuss the slow pace of construction of these roads. We recently got a sanction from the forest department for the Himachal road. Owing to lack of connectivity,we still depend on mules,porters and our men to carry everything to high altitudes, said a senior ITBP official.

An official said that the Border Roads Organisation has not been able to even survey Marmang-Thimbu-Mago-Chuna as the area is inaccessible. The Arunachal Pradesh government is learnt to have sent a proposal to the plan panel for an additional Rs 300 crore to build more roads.