Hi,

As i had mentioned in the aftermath of parechu dam
bursting, that the revival of old Hindustan-Tibet road
should be on cards to counter the happenings on NH-22/
new Hindustan Tibet road.
The Union of India has asked for the revival of the
old road. It is a welcome development. This road
development would lead to spurt in improvement of
living standards in the remote corners which were
earlier bypassed and also act as a standby road in
case of NH-22 is closed. I would further suggest that
the govt revive the road from Sarahan Bushair( 18 km
from Jeori which lies on NH22 ) onwards. Since
historically that has always been the gateway to
Kinnaur and Tibet. Moreover, they should align this
road for the development of tourist infrastucture.
This would be a fabolous addition to the already
famous toursim spot like Sangla valley and Kalpa. Let
the local people enjoy the fruits of this road
development atleat. I hope the govt keeps that in mind
while redeveloping this road.

Attached is the report.
Regards,
Tenzin
********************************************************
********************************************************

Centre nod to partial revival of Hindustan-Tibet Road
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 2
The Centre has agreed in principle to the proposal to
partly revive the abandoned old Hindustan-Tibet road
as an alternative road to the existing National
Highway (NH-22), the only link to the tribal Kinnaur
and Spiti areas, which has of late become highly
vulnerable to damage from floods.

A Central team, which visited the area in the wake of
Parechu Lake disaster, has given its nod to the
proposal under which a 75-km road will be constructed
from Tapri to Kiran Khad. It will be a single-lane
road at a much higher alignment than the national
highway, which runs dangerously close to the Sutlej.
Funds for the Rs 50-crore project will be provided by
the Centre under the border areas development scheme.

Starting from Tapri, the proposed road will pass
through Karcham, Peo, Pangi, Thopan ,Rarang and Kirang
Khad on the right bank before rejoining it. While
about 40 km road will be mostly aligned along the
abandoned old Hindustan-Tibet road, the rest will be
realigned to bypass very high portions. It will not
cross over the river and thus no big bridges will be
required.

The existing national highway criss-crosses the river
six times between Wangtu and Khab. Its vulnerability
was exposed during the August 2000 floods when 18
small, big bridges on the river and vast stretches of
road, about 20 km in length, were washed away.
Consequently, large parts of the tribal belt remained
cut off for almost a year. The calamity repeated early
this year when floods, caused due to the breaching of
the Parechu Lake in Tibet, washed away as many as
eight important bridges and wiped out large portions
of road.

The road will also help provide connectivity to
villages which are mostly located at higher elevations
at a safe distance from the river. There is very
little population along the banks of the river.

Another alternative road will be built to bypass the
treacherous hill terrain at Malling Nullah, which has
been constantly on slide for the past about eight
years. The road remains blocked for months together.
The 11-km road will pass through Leo on the right bank
of Spiti and rejoin the existing highway at Chango.