SRINAGAR: The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has said that no decision has yet been taken to construct a new National Highway connecting Chamba in Himachal Pradesh to Leh via Tissa and the remote Pangi region of Killard.
Responding to a question raised in the Rajya Sabha by MP Harsh Mahajan, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Jairam Gadkari said that while proposals are routinely received from various states and Union Territories — including from Himachal Pradesh — to upgrade state roads to National Highway status, the proposed Chamba–Leh route is not currently a notified National Highway.
Gadkari said that the Centre evaluates such proposals based on a number of factors, including the principles guiding the declaration of National Highways, strategic connectivity needs, inter-se project priority, and alignment with the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.
Though the proposed route, passing through the remote and strategically significant Pangi valley, is often highlighted for its potential as an all-weather alternative to existing Leh connections, the Centre has not yet accorded it official status or sanctioned a project to that effect.
Officials familiar with the matter said that even if cleared, building such a highway would involve considerable engineering and environmental challenges due to the high-altitude terrain and prolonged snowbound conditions in Pangi and Zanskar valleys.
