PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The Central Government is undertaking studies to develop a monitoring and early warning system (EWS) for landslides on the Char Dham Yatra circuit. This information was provided in response to a question asked in the Parliament by the Bharatiya Janata Party State president and Rajya Sabha member Mahendra Bhatt regarding the progress of national highway projects in the State.
In response to Bhatt’s question, the Union minister of Road, Transport and Highways Nitinn Gadkari said that the development and maintenance of national highways in the State is a continuous process. He said that various initiatives have been undertaken for disaster resistant infrastructure especially in mountain States. The government has initiated a research project by funding the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee to prepare guidelines for evaluation of the instability of mountain slopes and real-time monitoring using equipment. Work is also underway on an interferometric synthetic aperture radar-based landslide monitoring and early warning system, the minister said. An agreement was also signed with THDC India Limited for special treatment works to tackle landslides in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. Gadkari further informed that priority will be accorded first to slope cutting and stabilisation works for road construction of national highways in mountainous areas. The road construction will be started division-wise only after completion of safety works, the Union minister added.
He further informed that for the construction of national highways in mountainous regions, according to the policy issued in November 2025 on additional enhanced and systematic correctional solutions, aspects including improving the quality of the detailed project report, ensuring necessary measures for slope stability and water drainage, improving construction systems in mountainous areas, providing adequate time for construction in mountainous regions and strengthening monitoring and early warning system for landslide have also been incorporated.
