610 km of Char Dham Project all-weather road network completed

The Road and Transport Ministry has started building an 825 km all-weather road network connecting Chardham and a portion of the Kailas-Mansorovar route in an effort to ease pilgrim movement and increase tourism in steep areas. The Ministry reports that work is being done in the State of Uttarakhand to repair five National Highways (NHs) that connect the Chardham pilgrimage sites of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath, as well as the Tanakpur to Pithoragarh section of the Kailas-Mansarovar yatra, totalling 825 km.

The Ministry said that 610 km of road construction out of the projected 825 km has been completed. The complete length of the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor is around 213 km which was presented at a cost of around 6,392 crores and has been completed by 30.7%. State-level allocations are made towards NH development, not NH-level allocations. During the Financial Year 2022–2023, expenditures totalling roughly Rs 3,520 crore were made towards the development of NHs in the State of Uttarakhand.

The Ministry says that the development of NHs is an ongoing process that is prioritised based on inter-se priority, traffic demand, safety standards, and funding availability. In general, NH projects take two to three years to complete. National highway projects, including those in the State of Uttarakhand, are frequently delayed for a variety of reasons, including long delays in the acquisition of land, the clearing of forests, the removal of trees, the relocation of utilities, problems with contracts, legal disputes, and the poor progress of contractors.

The Ministry continues to receive requests for the declaration or upgrading of State roads as new NHs from numerous State Governments, Union Territories (UTs), etc., including from the State of Uttarakhand. Based on the requirements for connection and the availability of finances, the Road and Transport Ministry occasionally considers declaring some State roads as NHs.