BORDER ROADS ORGANISATION PROJECT DANTAK

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Context

• The Prime Minister has praised the initiative by Border Roads Organisation Project Dantak to commemorate 64th Raising Day. 

About Project Dantak

History

• It is an overseas project of the Border Roads Organisation under the Ministry of Defence of India.
• Project DANTAK was established on 24 April 1961 as a result of an agreement between Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, the third king of Bhutan and then Prime Minister of India Jawahar Lal Nehru.
• It was established under the provision of the Indo-Bhutan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, 1949.

Work

• The project is involved in identifying the most important aspects of connectivity and in spurring the socio-economic development and growth of Bhutan.
• It is tasked to construct and maintain roads suitable for motorised transportation in Bhutan.

About BRO

• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Defence, Government of India.
• BRO develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighboring countries.
• This includes infrastructure operations in 19 states and three union territories (including Andaman and Nicobar Islands) and neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka.

Staff

• Officers from the Border Roads Engineering Service (BRES) and personnel from the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) form the parent cadre of the BRO.
• It is also staffed by officers and troops drawn from the Indian Army's Corps of Engineers on extra regimental employment (on deputation).

Motto

• The organisations motto is Shramena Sarvam Sadhyam (everything is achievable through hardwork).

Work

• BRO is instrumental in significantly upgrading and building new India-China Border Roads (ICBRs).
• BRO set a Guinness World Record in November 2021 for the "highest altitude road" at Umling La.
• BRO has been instrumental in constructing some of the great Engineering Marvels like Atal Tunnel, Atal setu, Col Chewang Rinchen Setu to name a few.

History

• The BRO was formed on 7 May 1960 to secure India's borders and develop infrastructure in remote areas of the north and north-east states of the country.
• In order to ensure coordination and expeditious execution of projects, the Government of India set up the Border Roads Development Board (BRDB) with the prime minister as chairman of the board and with the defence minister as deputy chairman.

Role of the BRO

During Peace

• To develop and maintain the operational road infrastructure of General Staff (GS) roads in the border areas.
• To contribute to the socio-economic development of the border states.
• BRO is entrusted for construction of roads, bridges, tunnels, causeways, helipads and airfields.
• The BRO is also in charge of maintenance of its road networks.
• In many places landslides, avalanches and snow block the routes and have to be cleared as quickly as possible.

During War

• To develop and maintain roads to keep line of control through in original sectors and re-deployed sectors.
• To execute additional tasks as laid down by the government contributing to the war effort.

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1922098