After constructing the much awaited Dobra Chanthi bridge, the state government has completed another important work which had been stuck for the past 26 years. The treatment of the Lambagarh slide zone on the highway to Badrinath has finally been completed and will be dedicated to the public within the next 10 days.This long pending task has been completed in a period of two years thanks to the consistent focus laid on it by the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. The treatment of the 500 metre long slide zone has been done at a cost of Rs 107 crore. With this task, the pilgrimage to Badrinath and routine travel on the route will not be impeded on this stretch.
Rawat said that the State government is serious about making the Char Dham Yatra convenient. “The Lambagarh slide zone was a major impediment on the Badrinath Yatra route. We attempted to complete its treatment with honesty and the result is there for all to see. This important work which had been pending for many years has been completed with effective and consistent monitoring,” said the CM.
It is pertinent to mention here that about 26 years ago, the slide zone at Lambagarh in Chamoli district came into existence near Pandukeshwar after landslide on the Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway. Since then, even light rainfall used to cause heavy debris to land on the road at the site which used to disrupt the Yatra to Badrinath frequently. During the past two and half decades, a number of people also died after vehicles were buried in debris here. Though crores of rupees were spent, the slide zone remained a major problem. In the past during construction of a barrage here, the executing company proposed construction of a tunnel but the project did not progress due to considerable difference in the estimated cost stated by the company and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). The highway was washed away during the 2013 disaster, after which the ministry of road transport handed over the task of permanent treatment of the slide zone to NH PWD. The department started the task with a company but it did not pick up in pace due to various issues. On assuming office in 2017, Rawat got the various hurdles cleared in mission mode with work starting on war footing in 2018. Now that the project has been completed in a period of two years, it will be dedicated to the public within the next 10 days.
