Govt committed to strengthening roads at border: Himachal CM

The strategic Chitkul-Dumti road in tribal Kinnaur district along China border, which has 20 posts of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), would be upgraded, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said today.
The ITBP have their front posts at Dumti towards the China border and the road to be upgraded at a cost of Rs 44.24 crore would be greatly helpfulto the armed forces, especially the army and ITBP, he said.
Performing the Bhumi Pujan for upgradation work of the road, he said 20 km of the road, passing through Rani-Kanda, is complete.
Addressing a public meeting at Chitkul, Singh said the state shares 220 km of border with China and around 140 km of that length was along Kinnaur district, while 80 km of border falls in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district.

Expressing concern over the delay of work on Rakchham- Chitkul road, the Chief Minister called for re-tendering of the work. He said the work on Dumti road be given to such a contractor who could finish it in time, adding that others who delay work for years, should be blacklisted.
He said the government was more concerned about strengthening border roads so that the armed forces could have access to better communication facilities at the times of exigency.

Similarly, the work on 20 km road from Thangi to Kunnu-Charang was also in progress and so far 14 km of it have been completed, while the remaining would be done by December-end, he said, adding that Rs 28 crore have been spent on it.

Singh said the border road from Kota to Dogri was being constructed at a cost ofRs 12.50 crore and it would benefit the army and ITBP.
He said another road has already been constructed till Shipki-La bordering China and the state government has again taken up laying of Bilaspur-Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Leh rail line as the road was of great strategic importance from the defence point of view.
The Chief Minister also directed Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) officers to replace the old wooden poles and transmission lines to solve low voltage problem and give uninterrupted power to consumers.