Army seeks control over Border Roads Organisation to expedite projects
Out of the 73 strategic roads proposed on the Sino-Indian border, only 17 have been built
New Delhi: Worried over the rapid pace of Chinese border infrastructure development, the Indian Army which is unhappy over the slow pace of construction of roads on the Indian side of the Sino-Indian border has recently submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Defence that the Border Roads Organisation should be directly under the Army and should report to the Army vice-chief. In the wake of the change in Union government, the Army is now pushing for drastic speeding up of the border infrastructure development process including swift construction of border roads.
The Army is distressed by the fact that of the 73 proposed strategic roads to be built on the Indian side near the Sino-Indian border, only 17 roads have been completed, sources said. Out of the 73 strategic roads, as many as 54 should have been completed by the end of 2013 itself.
The BRO, as an organisation, is headed by an Army officer of the rank of Lieutenant-general from the Corps of engineers and currently functions directly under the purview of the MoD.
The BRO’s role is to develop and maintain the operational road infrastructure in the border areas and support the armed forces in their strategic needs.
“The Army is unhappy with the pace of progress of various border road projects near the Sino-Indian border. The Army has proposed that the BRO should be directly under the Army and report to the Army Vice-chief. The proposal is under the consideration of the MoD,” sources said.
In fact, Army chief Gen. Bikram Singh had also recently met Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari to discuss the status of crucial border road projects.