Pancheswar Dam talks stall road construction work

BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, February 13

The ongoing talks with Nepal on the construction of the Pancheswar Dam along the border in Champawat district has stalled the construction of a road from Tanakpur to Jauljibi along the Kali river proposed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The Union Home Ministry has scrapped the Rs 530 crore project until both nations identify the area that will submerge due to the construction of the dam, Public Works Department (PWD) sources said here today.

“We have been directed to prepare a new detailed progress report (DPR) of the 55 km stretch of the Tanakpur to Rupaligar road to be sent to the Union Home Ministry. The report will certify that this portion of the road will not fall in the submerged area of the Pancheswar Dam waters,” said BC Pant, Executive Engineer with the PWD, Champawat.

Pant said it was decided at a meeting of the departments concerned with Union Home Ministry officials at New Delhi on January 28 that the construction of the remaining 118 km portion of the Rupaligar to Jauljibi road would be taken up after the area likely to submerge due to the Pancheswar Dam was identified.