Govt to Construct 44 ‘Strategic’ Roads Along India-China Border

The govt will also construct over 2,100 km of axial and lateral roads in Punjab and Rajasthan, abutting Pakistan.

A signboard seen from the Indian side of the India-China border. Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: Reuters)

The government will construct 44 strategic roads along the border with China and over 2,100 km of axial and lateral roads in Punjab and Rajasthan, abutting Pakistan, a CPWD document shows.

According to an annual report (2018-19) prepared, and released earlier this month by the Central Public Works Department, the agency has been asked to construct 44 "strategically important" roads along the India-China border to ensure quick mobilisation of troops in case of a conflict.

The nearly 4,000-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China touches areas from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh

The report comes at a time when China is giving priority to projects along its India borders after a face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops over road-building at the Doklam tri-junction in 2017.

The report stated that these 44 strategically important roads along the India-China border will be constructed at a cost of nearly Rs 21,000 crore.

"The CPWD has been entrusted with construction of 44 strategically important roads along the Indo-China Border spanning five states of J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh," the report stated.

"The total cost of work as per DPRs (Detailed Project Reports) is Rs 21,040 crore (approx)," the report stated.

It said the process of approval of DPRs by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is underway.

The CPWD report also stated that lateral and axial roads measuring over 2,100 kilometers will be built with a cost of around Rs 5,400 crore in Rajasthan and Punjab along the Indo-Pakistan border.

The DPRs for this project are under preparation in CPWD, which is a major construction agency of the central government.

"A total of 945 km of lateral roads and 533 km of axial roads lie in Rajasthan (tentative cost Rs 3,700 crores) and 482 km of lateral roads and 219 km of axial roads in Punjab (tentative cost Rs 1,750  crores)," it stated, adding that the road projects will secure the vast and remote border areas of Rajasthan and Punjab.

India's border with Pakistan runs through four states – Jammu and Kashmir (1,225 km, which includes 740 km of Line of Control), Rajasthan (1,037 km), Punjab (553 km) and Gujarat (508 km).