127 km stretch of all weather road in Kumaon to be delayed

Completion of the 127 km Tanakpur-Pithoragarh road, which is part of the ambitious all weather road project, will be delayed by six months, officials connected with the project said Friday.

"Though we will be able to complete 90-km long portion of the road till December and the rest before March 2020, more time has been sought by contractors for cutting a 3-km long rocky portion of the road at Gurna Devi and completion of a bridge at Chalthi point on the highway," said LD Mathela, executive engineer of the NH 125.

So the road, which was scheduled to be commissioned by November, would not be complete before June 2020, he said.

The stretch is strategically important as it connects Tanakpur railhead to Pithoragarh which shares borders with both China and Nepal.

This is the lone portion of the Rs 12,000 crore project situated in Kumaon region. The rest of the six constructions are to be carried out in the Garhwal region.

The foundation of the all weather road project, which will increase the accessibility of the four Himalayan shrines in Uttarakhand also known as Chardham, was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2016.

The project will have 11 view points and three rest areas for passengers travelling on the route, Mathela said.

"It will also help in transportation of armaments for the Indian troops guarding the borders with China and Nepal in Pithoragarh and Champawat districts," he said.