Context: Recently, the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs inaugurated the breakthrough event of Chamba Tunnel under Chardham Pariyojana through video conference mode. Border Roads Organisation (BRO) achieved this major milestone by digging up a 440 m long Tunnel below the busy Chamba town on Rishikesh-Dharasu road Highway (NH 94). 
About Chardham Pariyojana 

• It is an initiative to improve connectivity to the Char Dham pilgrimage centres in the Himalayas namely Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. 
• These four ancient pilgrimages sites in Uttarakhand are known as Chota Char Dham to differentiate them from the bigger circuit of modern day Char Dham sites namely Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram. 
• The works under Char Dham Pariyojna are being implemented on Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode of contract. 

These projects are being implemented by three executing agencies of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, viz, 

• Uttarakhand State PWD, 
• Border Road Organization(BRO) and 
• National Highway & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL). 

Features of the programme

• The project proposes the widening of single lane roads into double lanes by up to 10 metres, developing highways in Uttarakhand and thereby improving access to the Char Dham. 
• The projects also includes mitigation measures/ stabilisation of chronic landslide & sinking spots/zones as a standalone project or part of road widening projects to avoid landslide and safety of road users. 
• Under prestigious Chardham Project costing around Rs 12,000 Crore with approximate length of 889 Km, BRO is constructing 250 Km of National Highways leading to holy shrine Gangotri and Badrinath. Majority of the works are progressing ahead of schedule and BRO is slated to complete four projects by October this year. 

BRO has been entrusted 251 Km of stretches costing Rs 3000 Cr approx consisting of 17 Projects on road Rishikesh – Dharasu (NH-94) from Km 28 onwards of 99 Km length, Dharasu- Gangotri Highway (NH-108) of 110 Km length and Joshimath to Mana ( NH-58) of 42 Km length. Out of these, 10 Projects consisting of 151 Km road length have been sanctioned which are worth Rs 1702 Cr and works are under progress as under:- 

•  (i) Rishikesh – Dharasu( NH-94) , 99 Km length (Five projects). 
• (ii) Dharasu- Gangotri Highway (NH-108), 22 Km length (Two projects). Five projects of BESZ are yet to be sanctioned. 
• (iii) Joshimath to Mana (NH-58) 32 Km (Three Projects). Two projects are yet to be sanctioned 
• BRO is slated to complete four Projects aggregating a length of 53 Km out of 10 ongoing projects ahead of their scheduled, date of completion as under:- 
• Dharasu- Gangotri Highway (NH-108) KM 110-123 by June 2020. 
• Rishikesh- DharasuHighway (NH-94) Km28-59 by July 2020. 
• Rishikesh- Dharasu Highway (NH-94) Km 59-65 including Chamba Tunnel by October 2020. 
• Chinialisaur bye pass on Rishikesh- Dharasu Highway (NH-94) by October 2020. 

Chamba Tunnel

• The Chamba tunnel is 440 m long and is a Horseshoe type tunnel with 10-metre carriageway width and 5.5m vertical clearance.
• The BRO achieved this major milestone by digging up a 440 m long Tunnel below the busy Chamba town on Rishikesh-Dharasu road Highway (NH 94).

About Border Roads Organisation (BRO)

• The BRO develops and maintains road networks in India’s border areas and friendly neighbouring countries and functions under the Ministry of Defence.
• It is entrusted for construction of Roads, Bridges, Tunnels, Causeways, Helipads and Airfields along the borders.
• Officers from the Border Roads Engineering Service (BRES) and personnel from the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) form the parent cadre of the Border Roads Organisation.
• It is also staffed by officers and troops drawn from the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers on extra regimental employment.
• The BRO operates and maintains over 32,885 kilometres of roads and about 12,200 meters of permanent bridges in the country.