SSB border posts to get road link in Pancheswar dam project area
SSB border posts to get road link in Pancheswar dam project area
B.D.Kasniyal
Pithoragarh, Nov 28
To link Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) border out posts with motor roads on the Indo-Nepal border, the project implementation unit (PIU) of Pancheswar project, has sent a new proposal to construct a motor road on the 35 km long Rupaligad -Pancheswar portion of the project, 200 meters above the submerge area of Proposed Pancheswar Dam.
The Pancheswar Dam, proposed as a joint venture of India and Nepal on river Kali at Pancheswar village, is long awaited and delayed due to several political obstacles. Due to this uncertainly, the SSB Border out Posts (BoP’s) situated at Indo Nepal border are not getting linked by road.
“We have sent a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of construction of a 35 km long road above to be submerge area of proposed Dam alongside river Kali, after we were instructed to do so at a meeting with Ministry of Home affairs on October 22, this year,” said Aadarsh Gopal, executive engineer of Pancheswar Dam PIU.
According to the engineer, the meeting was convened on the behalf of SSB, the security force that guards the Indo-Nepal Border and was deprived of road connectivity at this portion of border due to uncertainty of Pancheswar project.
The long proposed Pancheswar project, a joint venture of India and Nepal at Pancheswar village, is proposed to generate over 6480 megawatts of electricity, to be shared by both the neighbouring countries.” We have already constructed 55 km road long road along river Kali from Thuligad in Tanakpur plains to Rupaligad in hill part of Champawat district,” said the EE.
According to the PIU engineer, if this new alignment gets approved, then more 35 km part of Indo-Nepal border towards Jauljibi will be linked with motor road giving SSB border outposts a motor link.”We have also planned to construct a tentative singled road of 30 km in the next portion from Pancheswar to Baltari outpost,” said the engineer.
According to Pancheswar Dam PIU engineer, if the proposal gets sanctioned, the 173 km long motor project, to link SSB BoP’s and villages along river Kali from Tanakpur to Jauljibi will get a total of 120 km motorable road.”We have sent the proposal to Uttarakhand government, which will finalise DPR of project and take care of forest clearance in new alignment and will send it to Ministry of Home affairs, Government of India, that will bear the construction host of road,” said the engineer.
