Indians will soon be able to visit Mansarovar via Uttarakhand not via Nepal or China: Nitin Gadkari
24 Mar 2022 15:55:22
New Delhi, March 24: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that Indian pilgrims will be able to travel to Kailash Mansarovar straight from Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand by the end of 2023. This new route will end the dependency on Nepal and China.
The new route to Kailash Mansarovar from Uttarakhand involves 3 stretches. The first stretch is a 107.6 km-long road from Pithoragarh to Tawaghat. The second is from Tawaghat to Ghatiabgarh on a 19.5-km single lane, and the third stretch is 80-km-long from Ghatiabgarh to Lipulekh Pass at the China border.
This construction is significant to India for strategic & tactical reasons. The road via Pithoragarh will ensure that most of the Kailash Yatra is within Indian territory, which is not the case right now.
Highlighting the improvement in highway connectivity and road infrastructure, Gadkari said that it now takes only 40 minutes to travel to Meerut from Delhi, as against four hours earlier.
"From Ladakh, Leh to Srinagar we will go to Mumbai, before the end of this year, we will try that from Srinagar you are able to reach Mumbai in 20 hours," the minister said.
Work is on in full swing for the Zojila tunnel in Kashmir and is expected to be completed by 2024, much before the scheduled target of 2026, he said.
Speaking in Lok Sabha, Gadkari said majority of work on the project has been completed.
"I don't want to travel to Kailash Mansarovar via Nepal or China. Indians will be able to reach Mansarovar from Pithoragarh by the end of 2023. We have completed 85% of the work," Gadkari said, adding that this new route will offer a smooth ride unlike the present tricky trek up to the pilgrimage.
The new route to Kailash Mansarovar from Uttarakhand involves 3 stretches. The first stretch is a 107.6 km-long road from Pithoragarh to Tawaghat. The second is from Tawaghat to Ghatiabgarh on a 19.5-km single lane, and the third stretch is 80-km-long from Ghatiabgarh to Lipulekh Pass at the China border.
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It can only be traversed on foot. This stretch takes almost five days to cover and is a tough journey.
This construction is significant to India for strategic & tactical reasons. The road via Pithoragarh will ensure that most of the Kailash Yatra is within Indian territory, which is not the case right now.
Highlighting the improvement in highway connectivity and road infrastructure, Gadkari said that it now takes only 40 minutes to travel to Meerut from Delhi, as against four hours earlier.
"Our aim is to reduce the cost of construction and improve the quality," he said, adding the milestone of 38 km/day road construction, which is a world record, was achieved by India last year.
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On the progress in the building of infrastructure, the minister said that road travel between Delhi to Jaipur; and Delhi to Haridwar now takes 2 hours. Similarly, the travel time from Delhi to Amritsar is now 4 hours.
"From Ladakh, Leh to Srinagar we will go to Mumbai, before the end of this year, we will try that from Srinagar you are able to reach Mumbai in 20 hours," the minister said.
Work is on in full swing for the Zojila tunnel in Kashmir and is expected to be completed by 2024, much before the scheduled target of 2026, he said.