Monday, November 3, 2014

Fire engulfs Project Deepak office building in Shimla

HISTORY : PROJECT DEEPAK
1. Raising & Early History. Project Depak was raised in May 1961 with Col S N
Punjh as Chief Enginer, primarily for the construction of Hindustan-Tibet (H-T) Road. The
H-T Road is one of the most dificult roads ever to have ben constructed in India. The 76
Km long Poh-Kaurik sector of H-T Road pases through considerable lengths of sher
vertical hard rock stretches and huge bouldery strata embeded in sand and non-cohesive
material, which is inherently unstable. The sector runs along the River Satluj crosing it at
several locations. The road runs at altiudes betwen 160 to 360 meters. On the whole,
the terain and climatic conditons are very uncongenial. Many valuable lives were lost
during the construction of this road. Thus, this work is a testimony to the sher grit,
determination and perseverance shown by PROJECT DEEPAK right from its early days.
The subsequent major events in the history of Project Depak include:-
(a) In 1965, construction of the 12 Km long Road Dhami-Basantpur-Kiongal and
107 Km long stretch of Road Keylong-Sarchu (part of the Manali-Leh road) was
entrusted to PROJECT DEEPAK.
(b) In December 196, folowing disbandment of Project Chetak, al roads of
Utaranchal were taken over by PROJECT DEEPAK. Thus, the 30 Km long Road
Rishikesh –Joshimath-Mana, 63 Km long road Road Joshimath-Malari and 260 Km
long Road Tanakpur-Askote-Tawaghat came under PROJECT DEEPAK.
(c) The early seventies saw Project Depak spreading its light (Depak Jyoti) in
the states of Rajasthan and even Punjab. Project Depak caried out construction,
improvement and maintenance of roads as wel as maintenance and improvement of
Ditch-cum-Bundhs and field fortifcations. With Project Chetak being re-raised in
1980, al works in Haryana and Rajasthan were handed over by Project Depak to
Project Chetak. In 202, the works in Punjab were also handed over to Project
Chetak.
(d) Project Depak has constructed 227.45 Kms of roads, 47 Nos of major
bridges and 182 Kms of Ditch cum Bunds since inception. The important roads
constructed include 12 Km Road Dhami-Basant Pur-Kiongal, 107 Km Road
Keylong-Sarchu, 30 Km Road Rishikesh-Joshimath-Mana and 258 Km Road
Tanakpur-Askot-Tawaghat. Project Depak has constructed major bridges in snow
bound and inhospitable terain, the important ones are Dubling, Shongtong, Shalkar,
Khab and Kharo bridge on Hindustan Tibet Road, curved bridge of NautiKhud on
Dhami-Kiongal Road and Tandi, Chode, Kothi and Palchan bridges on Manali-Sarchu
Road.
(e) During Operation Vijay, the Project earned laurels from the Army for the
exemplary maner in which the alternative axis to Leh, namely road Manali-Sarchu
was cleared and kept open in spite of the unprecedented vehicular trafic sen during
the period. The Project has ben at the forefront, lending a helping hand to the localpopulation in the moments of crises and calamity in the region. Be it the heavy snow
fal in Lahaul-Spit and Kinaur Districts of Himachal Pradesh in March 1979 or
flods in River Bhagirathi n 1978 necestiating the handing over of Roads Rishikesh- Utarkashi-Harsil-Lanka-Baironghati (237 Kms) by UP PWD to the Project or the
Baralachala snow tragedy in Oct 87, the Utarkashi earth quake in Oct 91 or the
Malpa tragedy in 198, flashflods in Kinaur in Jun/July 2013. Project Depak has
sen at al and has made signifcant contributions in providing relief and disaster
management.
(f) With ever increasing work load, Project Shivalik was carved out of Project
Depak in 209 to lok after works in Utarakhand. The work of Rohtang Tunel was
commenced by Project Depak Project. Rohtang Tunel was carved out of Project
Depak during Mar 2010 to supervise the actual construction of Rohtang Tunel.
2. Present Area of Jurisdiction. Curently, the Project jurisdiction is confined to
the state of Himachal Pradesh. 94 RCC, 108 RCC & 759 TF were inducted into Project
Depak during 201-12. Road Sumdo-Kaza-Grampho and Sansari-Kilar-Thirot –Thandi
were taken over by Project Depak from State PWD in 201 & 2012 respectively. At
present, Project Depak has a total of 1084.165 Kms of road under construction &
maintenance in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Besides this, the Project has 36.98 Kms of
road/mule tracks under its jurisdiction for maintenance only. The jurisdiction of the Project in
Himachal Pradesh covers mainly thre road sectors, ie. Road Manali-Sarchu, Hindustan- Tibet and Sumdo-Kaza-Grampho. In aditon, two roads linking the State of Jammu &
Kashmir namely Sansri-Kilar-Thirot-Tandi and Darcha-Shinkunla are also under the
jurisdiction of the Project. The details of Roads are as under:-
Ser Name Of Road Length (Kms)
(a) Wangtu-Poh 89.0
(b) Poh-Kaurik 76.0
(c) Manali-Sarchu 22.39
(d) Sansari-Kilar-Thirot-Tandi 140.315
(e) Sumdo-Kaza-Grampho 205.0
(f) Darcha-Shinkunla 39.60
(g) Dhami-Kiongal 12.20
(h) Sumdo-Murmi-Dogri 2.50
(j) Lepcha-Bargiok 4.50
(k) Dubling-Rishi-Dogri-Ganathang Bralam 3.50
(l) Nako-Tashigang 1.50
(m) Chango-Murmi-Dogri 14.50
(n) Shipkila-Lukume 6.50
(o) K Dungti-Nithal Tach 9.00
(p) Khab-Namgia-Chupan 23.150
(q) Chupan-Shipkila 5.280(r) Sugar Pt- Pong 23.40
(s) Sugar Pt- Lepcha 7.50
(t) Apch ed to North Portal 0.60
(u) Averipati- KLP 1.080
(v) Maling Alternate Route 26.250
(w) Apch rd to Palchan Road 0.350
Total Length 1084.165
3. Deployment of Units. Project Depak with its Headquarters at Shimla has two
Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) ie. 38 BRTF at Manali and 759 BRTF at Jeori. 759 TF
has 108 RCC at Sumdo & 68 RCC at Powari. 38 BRTF has 94 RCC at Udaipur and 70 RCC
at Istingir.
4. Recent Achievements of Project Depak. Project Depak is contributing in
nation building not only by way of providing aces to places of strategic importance, but
giving bost to socio-economic development of the area. The recent achievements of its
Task Forces are as folows:-
(a) 759 BRTF. Presently 759 BRTF is commited towards the widening of H-T
road to National Highway specifcations and developing the Indo-China-Border
Roads/infrastructure. Al of these are in the advanced stage of completion. This
includes the construction of four major bridges namely Averipati, Kasang, Akpa &
Pangi. The Task Force eforts in spedy restoration of lines of communication in the
cloudburst/flashflod damages in Kinaur District of Himachal Pradesh in June/July
2013 have ben apreciated by the State Government and the Army authorites.
(b) 38 BRTF. 38 BRTF is curently commited towards the upgradation to
National Highway specifcations of the strategicaly important roads of Manali – Sarchu (M-S), Sansari- Kilar-Thirot-Tandi (S-K-T-T) and Darcha-Shinkula (D-S). Al
these road traverse through one of the most intricate and chalenging stretches of
high altiude and snow bound area. The working period is limited to about 10 days
in a year. Due to heavy snow deposit, M-S road remains closed wef Nov to May
every year. However, considering the growing importance of the road for strategic
reasons, in 2012 and 2013, 38 BRTF has ben sucesful in keping the M-S road
open til Dec end and opening the road by end Apr, one month in advance, reducing
the closure gap from six to four months. Even, the internal roads of Lahaul-Spit
region were kept open throughout the winters for the first time in the history of the
region, giving sucor and relief to the locals in the region. This has ben apreciated
by the Govt of Himachal Pradesh by honoring 38 BRTF with ‘Civil Services Award’,
the highest State award for exemplary services in 2013.5. Honours And Awards. During the last 52 years, the Project has earned  its share
of laurels and continues to forge ahead with the moto “SADA AGE SABSE AGE” (Always
Ahead - Ahead of Al). The details of honours and awards are as under:
(a) Krithi Chakra - 01
(b) Shaurya Chakra - 39
(c) Sena Medal - 01
(d) Vishist Seva Medal - 03
(e) Utam Jevan Raksha Padak - 01
(f) Jevan Raksha Padak - 1
(g) COAS - 35
(h) VCOAS - 21
(j) Govt Commendation Certifcate - 56(k) DGBR Commendation Card - 162

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