Border Road Organisation starts phase 3 of India, China Border Roads Project

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Border Roads Organisation (BRO), along with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and the National Projects Construction Corporation, has initiated the third phase of the strategic India, China Border Roads (ICBR) project, which would boost the road network in eastern Ladakh.While the work on some key roads is still in progress under Phase II of ICBR, most of the phase has been completed with all-weather roads helping faster movement of security forces along the Line of Actual Control, ET has learnt. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out the first blast for the Shinku La tunel which will provide all-weather connectivity from Manali to Leh. The 4.1-kilometer tunnel is expected to enhance the movement of armed forces and equipment.

ET Bureau
India and China share 3,488 km of border in Ladakh, Arunachal, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim. After the 2020 standoff with the Chinese army at Galwan in eastern Ladakh, the Union government has stepped up the pace of road construction and identified new roads under the third phase of ICBR. The first two phases were planned in the early 2000s, according to officials.

As per official data, India has done ‘formation cutting’, which involves fresh alignments and earthworks, at a pace of 470 km roads per year from 2017-20, more than double that of the 230 km a year being maintained in the decade until 2017. Under ICBR phase I and II, 73 roads had been identified as strategic and 61 of those entrusted to BRO. In eastern Ladakh, five new roads have been identified under phase 3, to be constructed by BRO and CPWD, said an official familiar with the matter.

In several cases, roads with single or double lanes have been upgraded to four-lane. Recently, the Union budget allocated ₹6,500 crore to BRO for 2024-25, which is 30% higher than the allocation for 2023-24. The Union home ministry received an allocation of ₹1,050 crore for the vibrant village programme for the development of border villages along the border with China.
In 2023, the Union government had allocated ₹4,800 crore under the programme, including ₹2,500 crore exclusively for road connectivity, for 2022-23 to 2025-26. Under the centrally sponsored programme, 2,967 villages in 46 blocks of 19 districts abutting the northern border in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh have been identified for comprehensive development. In the first phase, 662 villages have been identified for priority coverage, including 455 in Arunachal Pradesh and 35 in Ladakh. After the 2017 Doklam standoff between India and China, the slow pace of border infrastructure construction was flagged by a parliamentary panel.



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