Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 21

Pakistan and China have been working expeditiously to complete the $ 46-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), but at least 70 border roads in Jammu and Kashmir remain incomplete. A majority of these roads are in the strategic Ladakh region. In April 2015, China and Pakistan signed an agreement to build the CPEC through Gilgit-Baltistan. It will extend to Gwadar Port in Pakistan and give China access to the Indian Ocean and beyond.An official document on the incomplete Border Roads Organisation (BRO) projects says that 198 roads, which were sanctioned in the last five years, are yet to be completed. Of them, 70 roads await completion in Jammu and Kashmir.“There are certain delays in the execution of road projects mainly due to problems over forest and wildlife clearance, limited working season, difficulties in the availability of construction material and delay in land acquisition,” said the document.However, the Centre in a bid to expedite the pace of road projects had taken up the issue with Chief Secretary BR Sharma requesting him to constitute an empowered panel. Consequently, J&K constituted the panel to resolve the issue.The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has given an approval under Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, for diversion of forest land required for the construction of roads entrusted with the BRO in area falling within the 100-km aerial distance from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and for link roads between border roads in the area within the 100-km aerial distance from the LAC, national highways, state highways and other roads.The 3,488-km-long LAC between India and China runs through the Himalayan states of J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Ladakh shares with China 955-km-long LAC that includes some portion of the international border and 122-km-long AGPL (Actual Ground Position Line).“In the strategically significant Ladakh where Chinese incursions and India-China stand-offs frequently take place, impediments being faced by the BRO could affect the operational preparedness of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Army,” said an Army source.The Army headquarters in New Delhi have been voicing concern over the matter and the Centre has been urged to remove bottlenecks to pave the way for the BRO to speed up its work and complete some important road projects, Army sources said.While 12 Indo-China Border Roads (ICBRs) in Ladakh need immediate completion, at least 10 of the ITBP posts get cut off every winter for over six months for lack of road connectivity.

Bumpy ride for BRO

• An official document on the incomplete Border Roads Organisation (BRO) projects says that 198 roads, which were sanctioned in the last five years, are yet to be completed. Of them, 70 roads await completion in J&K
• The delays in the execution of road projects are due to problems over forest and wildlife clearance, limited working season, difficulties in the availability of construction material and hurdles in land acquisition