A project to build over 1,300 km of roads along the Indo-nepal border in Bihar, UP and Uttarakhand has been found to be poorly designed, marred by cost overruns and inordinate delays due to land acquisition and forest clearance issues. The observations were made by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in a report that was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.
The government in November 2010 took up the construction of 1,377 km of roads along the Indo-nepal Border in Bihar (564 km), Uttar Pradesh (640 km) and Uttarakhand (173 km) at a cost of ?3,853 crore.
The MHA released Rs 1,709.17 crore to the states concerned as of March 31, 2021. The deadline of the project was March 2016, which was extended to December 2022.
Pointing out changes in the the alignment of a road in Bihar's West Champaran, the report said, “did not serve the purpose of border road, as it was beyond the patrolling jurisdiction of the SSB”.
According to the report, as of March 31, 2021, as many as 363 Border Outposts (81%) were away from the alignment of the proposed road. Of the 363 BOPs, 125 were up to 20 km away, and 16 were more than 20 km away. “No provision was made to provide the connectivity to the BOPs,” the CAG said.
The report has said 15 bridges were constructed in Bettiah (Bihar) line with the initial proposal, but later the alignment was changed, leaving the dridges usless.
In Uttarakhand, the report said, “MHA did not ensure that preparatory works such as land…
