Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said in the Lok Sabha that Indian pilgrims will be able to travel to Kailash Mansarovar straight from Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand by the end of 2023. This new route will cut dependency on Nepal and China. 85% of the work on the project has been completed. The current road two approximately 20% Indian roads and 80% land journeys in China. The new road – traverses 84% land Indian roads and only 16 per cent land journeys in China.
This is a huge development.
Earlier pilgrims would have had to take a long and difficult trek of 5 days through this route, or had to travel via Nepal and China. This will be a thing of the past from the end of 2023, as it will take just 1 day by car to reach Kailash Mansarover, when this road is completed.
Facts and features about this ambitious highway project:-
Built at a cost of Rs 440 crores, work on this project started in 2018 by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and will be completely blacktopped by December 2023.
Pithoragarh is located at a distance of around 490 km from Delhi and is already connected to the rest of India by the 900 km long Chardham Highway project.
Lipulekh is located at a height of 17,000 feet at the tri junction border of India, Nepal and China. The last 5 km section of the road is flanked on the right by a large river and the left side by steep hills. Construction was extremely difficult on this section and more than 50 construction equipment fell on the river during construction works. Similarly, to arrange a large labour force to carry out construction of key roads and tunnels in far-flung areas was equally challenging for the BRO as Covid-19 situation was prevailing all over the country in those times. On the Pithoragarh-Tawaghat-Ghatiabagarh road site, there were numerous flash floods and cloudbursts over the last few years which led to extensive damages. In the initial 20 Km, the mountains have hard rock and are near vertical due to which BRO has lost many lives and 25 equipment were also badly damaged due to falling into Kali Nadi.
The Kailash Mansarover is just 16 km from Lipulekh border inside Tibet. Hence this is the easiest route for Indians to reach the spot other than routes via Nepal, which are much longer in length.
Kailash Parvat and Mansarovar Lake, important religious sites for Hindus, Jains and the Buddhists are located in the western part of Tibet. Both the sites hold religious importance for the Hindus.
Currently, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) organises Kailash Yatra through two different routes – Lipulekh Pass (Uttarakhand) and Nathu La Pass (Sikkim). It takes 23-25 days to complete the whole yatra through these two routes.
The journey through Lipulekh, the gateway to Kailash Mansarovar, involves trekking of around 90 Kms at high altitudes of up to 19,500 feet, under inhospitable conditions, including extreme weather and rugged terrain.
The new route through Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh will save pilgrims from the arduous journey that they have to undertake and cut the travel time from 3-4 weeks to just one.
The new route through Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand comprises three stretches. The first stretch is from Pithoragarh to Tawaghat, covering 107.6 km, the second is from Tawaghat to Ghatiabgarh, which is a 19.5-km single lane, and the third one is from Ghatiabgarh to Lipulekh Pass at the China border. The third stretch is 80 km-long and as of now, can be covered on foot only.
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is converting the single-lane Tawaghat to Ghatiabgarh stretch into a double lane.
The Border Roads Organisation is working on the connectivity from Dharchula (Uttarakhand) to Lipulekh, (China border). The road was inaugurated in May 2020 by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The Darchula–Lipulekh road is an extension of Pithoragarh-Tawaghat-Ghatiabagarh road. It originates from Ghatiabagarh and terminates at Lipulekh Pass. In this 80 Km road, the altitude rises from 6000 feet to 17,060 feet.
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