Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved setting up of wayside amenities at 75 locations in 12 States/Union Territories on different sections of roads with the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
The MoD in a statement said, “These are intended to provide basic amenities and comfort to the tourists and lead to boosting of economic activities in border areas, besides generating employment for the local people. These wayside amenities will be branded as ‘BRO Cafes’.”
Since the inaccessibility and remoteness of these roads preclude widespread commercial deployments, the BRO, by virtue of its presence, took it upon itself to open such facilities at remote places, the MoD added.
The scheme provides for development and operation of wayside amenities in public private partnership mode with agencies, on license basis, which will design, build & operate the facility as per guidelines of BRO. Amenities like parking for two and four wheelers, food plaza/ restaurant, separate restrooms for men, women and differently abled, first aid facilities/MI Rooms etc. are proposed to be provided. Selection of licencees will be done through a competitive process.
The terms of the agreement will be for 15 years which may be further extended for a period up to five years.
Under the initiative there will be 19 BRO Cafes in Arunachal Pradesh, two in Assam, seven in Himachal Pradesh, 12 in Jammu and Kashmir, 14 in Ladakh, five in Rajasthan, 11 in Uttarakhand. West Bengal, Sikkim, Punjab, Nagaland, Manipur are the other states where the wayside amenities will get established.
The BRO has its reach in the remotest border areas and besides addressing strategic needs, it has been instrumental in socio-economic upliftment of the Northern and Eastern borders. This has resulted in increased tourist influx in these scenic locations, hitherto inaccessible.
