Saturday, 18 February 2023 | PNS | JOSHIMATH
Delay in completion of works may cause inconvenience to Badrinath pilgrims
The work of widening the Helang-Joshimath motor road has been stalled for about a month now. Asphaltisation, cutting and other aspects of the work are yet to be completed on about 1.5 kilometre stretch of this road. Considering this, pilgrims may face inconvenience if the highway widening work is not completed in time before reopening of the Badrinath temple scheduled for April 27. Apart from connecting to Badrinath and Hemkund, this highway is also strategically important as it connects to the Indo-China border region.
The work on widening the 10 kilometre stretch of the Helang-Joshimath highway was started in May 2022. The executing agency of the Border Roads Organisation is undertaking this task as part of which the cutting work has been done till Jogidhar while work on a 1.5 kilometre stretch is remaining. Observers point out that pilgrims may face major inconvenience if the works are not completed before the start of the Char Dham Yatra especially as traffic congestion is often experienced on this highway during the Yatra to Badrinath. It will be recalled that all major construction works in the Joshimath area were stopped after the land subsidence assumed alarming proportions in the town. Due to this, the work on the Helang-Joshimath road had also been stalled since January 9.
