The Ministry of Defence has approved setting up of wayside amenities for tourists at 75 locations in 12 border States/Union Territories on different sections of roads with Border Roads Organisation (BRO)., according to an official statement issued today.
These are intended to provide basic amenities and comfort to 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,’ the statement explained.
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.
Himachal Pradesh will get 7 cafés and Uttarakhand 11. Ladakh will have 14 and Jammu & Kashmir will get 12. Arunachal Pradesh will get 10 such cafes in places such as Daporijo, Menchuka, Tippi and Durga Mandir. Two cafes will come up at Tezpur and BP Tinali in Assam. Some cafes will also be set up in Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal, Sikkim and Manipur, according to the official statement.
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.
In order to provide conducive and comfortable transit of tourists on these roads located at harsh climatic and geographical conditions, the need to establish multi-utility wayside amenities along the major tourist circuits in these regions was recognised. 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 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.
The terms of the agreement will be for 15 years which may be further extended for a period up to five years.
