Chardham all-weather road project: Due to the shortage of labourers amid the ongoing countrywide lockdown because of COVID-19 pandemic, the completion of the Tanakpur-Pithoragarh stretch of the Chardham all-weather road project, a 150 km long section, will be delayed by around six months. The Char Dham project will connect Gangotri, Kedarnath Dham, Yamunotri, Badrinath Dham and part of the route leading to Kailash Mansarovar yatra. Recently, NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) Executive Engineer L D Mathela who is in charge of the Chardham all-weather road project was quoted in a PTI report saying that the particular section was scheduled for completion in June this year. But now as migrant labourers working on the road project have left because of the lockdown, it is not likely to be ready before the month of November, he further said.
According to the NHAI official, the shortage of labourers, as well as technical staff, has affected cutting, crushing, hot mixing and quarrying work of the road project. Even if the project’s construction work resumes after May 3, 2020, it is likely to get affected by the onset of monsoon season in the months of June-July, Mathela said.
During monsoon, frequent rain and landslides often lead to suspension of the Chardham project’s construction work, slowing its progress, he added. According to the report, the Chardham all-weather road is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project and the progress of this project is personally monitored by the minister.
Recently, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that his Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is planning to set an ambitious target for highway construction at 60 km per day. This is to ensure the economy’s speedy recovery from the shocks of novel Coronavirus pandemic. According to Gadkari, the development of infrastructure helps to generate employment, which gives a boost to the per capita income of the nation and also accelerates the economy.
Recently, NHAI said that 3,979 kms of national highways were constructed across the nation in the financial year 2019-20, which is the highest construction of national highways ever recorded by the company in a financial year.