New Delhi: In a move to speed up construction of strategic road near the Sino-Indian border in Uttarakhand, helicopters have landed heavy road-building machinery in the tough Himalayan terrain of Johar Valley. This will boost construction of the strategic Munsiyari-Bugdiyar-Milam road near the border, an official said.

After several failed attempts in 2019, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) recently succeeded in carrying heavy road building equipment by helicopters to Laspa, raising hopes of the road’s faster completion, BRO chief engineer Bimal Goswami said.

The absence of heavy stone cutting equipment at Laspa near the alignment site of the 65-km road had delayed its construction.

The Munsiyari-Bogdiyar-Milam road, which is being constructed in the high Himalayan region of Johar Valley in the state’s Pithoragarh district, will be a link to the last posts on the Indo-China border.

“After several unsuccessful attempts last year, we succeeded this month in landing helicopters carrying heavy machines to Laspa. We now hope that cutting work of the challenging stretch will be completed in the next three years, Goswami said.

Cutting of hard rocks, which are standing straight on a 22-km portion of the road, will now become easy as heavy machines can be transported by helicopters to the spot.

“Construction of the road was started in 2010 with an amount of Rs 325 crore sanctioned for the project, the BRO chief engineer said.

He said the road is being constructed from both ends and except the 22-km hard portion, cutting work has been completed on 40 km of the road.