The Border Road Organisation (BRO) will construct a 6-km-long tunnel between Bundi and Garbiyang on the Ghatiabagar–Lipulekh road in Uttarakhand to make the way to the last border post of the Lipulekh pass on the India–China border more smooth, a senior BRO official said on Tuesday (May 23).
Situated at a height of 16,780 ft, the Lipulekh pass borders Nepal and Tibet and is important from the strategic point of view. “The contract for the survey work of the tunnel has been awarded to ATINOK India Consultants. The company has started the survey work and will submit its final proposal in a year’s time,” Chief Engineer of Project Hirak Vimal Goswami said.
The Rs 2,000-crore project could begin in four-five years, he added.
“The BRO has kept the border road from Bundi to Garbiyang single lane in view of the proposed tunnel, while the rest of it is going to be double lane,” Goswami said.
According to the officer, the border road that was commissioned in 2020 is being black-topped and double-laned these days. Most of the double-laning work has almost been completed, he said.
Only the formation-cutting work on the 5-km-long last portion of the road from the KMVN huts to the Lipulekh pass is awaiting permission. It could be completed in 100 days, once the Central Command Headquarters of the BRO gives its permission, the officer added.
(With agency inputs)