Thursday, 23 February 2023 | PNS | JOSHIMATH
Work on the road had been stopped on January 9 after worsening of land subsidence in Joshimath
The work of widening the Joshimath-Helang motor road has been resumed after being kept on hold for about a month and a half. The work on the road was started by the executing agency on Tuesday. The task had been halted after the land subsidence disaster in Joshimath came to the fore earlier during January.
It is pertinent to mention here that the task of widening the 13 kilometre long motor road from Joshimath to Helang was started during May 2022. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is undertaking the work for widening of this road. The road cutting work has been done till Jogidhar while work on a stretch about 1.5 kilometres long is still left. The administration has issued orders to resume work on widening this road before start of the pilgrimage to Badrinath. Completion of this work on time will ensure that pilgrims to Badrinath do not face any major inconvenience while travelling to and from the shrine. The pilgrimage to Badrinath will start with reopening of the portals of the temple to the public on April 27.
Considering this, the BRO has resumed work on the Joshimath-Helang motor road. This road is important both for the pilgrimage and from the strategic point of view as the vehicles of the army also use this road. All major construction works in the area were stopped after the land subsidence disaster worsened in Joshimath. The work on this road was also stopped on January 9. The sub divisional magistrate Kumkum Joshi said that the task of widening the highway has been resumed. Asphaltisation work has been started on the road, she added. In addition to this, work on the 90 metre steel girder bridge on Khanoti Nullah near Paini on the national highway to Badrinath has also been started, said the sub divisional magistrate.
