DUSHANBE, June 4, 2013, Asia-Plus – Recent mudslide has reportedly damaged the Dushanbe-Chanak highway in the Varzob district.
According to the Branch of Innovative Road Solutions (IRS) in Tajikistan, which operates the toll on the Dushanbe-Chanak highway, torrential rain on June 2-3 caused a mudslide that blocked the road in the area not far from the Hushyori toll-collection point, which is located some 70 kilometers to the north of Dushanbe.
Special machines were sent to the mudslide site to clear rocks from the road. Additional measures are being taken to fully eliminate the mudslide effects, IRS said.
We will recall that IRS was permitted to operate the toll on the Dushanbe-Chanak highway. A 354-kilometer toll road from Dushanbe to Chanak links Tajikistan”s capital with Uzbekistan through the northern province of Sughd.
The highway was upgraded by Chinese companies and paid for with a $280 million loan from China. The Tajik government decided that in order to repay the loan to China, a toll would be collected for using the road starting on April 1, 2010.
Seven toll-collection points (plaza) now function on the Dushanbe-Chanak high-way: Varzob; Hushyori; Maikhoura; Shahriston, Istaravshan, Dehmoy; and Chorukh.
