As part of his working trip to the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), President Emomali Rahmon today visited the Vanj district.
During a meeting with local residents, Rahmon noted that work on rehabilitation of the Qalai Khumb-Vanj road, which is one of the key sections of the highway connecting Dushanbe and Kulma Pass on the border between the GBAO and the Xinjiang Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China, will begin before the end of this year, according to the Tajik president’s official website.
The president reportedly said that the coronavirus pandemic had pushed back the signing of the document on rehabilitation of that section of the Dushanbe-Khorog-Kulma highway.
Rahmon noted that the Qalai Khumb-Vanj road was 96 kilometers in length and 2 billion somoni would be spent for rehabilitation of that road.
According to him, the Qalai Khumb-Vanj road rehabilitation project includes construction of 15 bridges and two tunnels.
The project is expected to be complete in three years.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport noted in October last year that the project aimed at rehabilitating this section of the Dushanbe-Khorog-Kulma highway reportedly provides for construction of two tunnels with a total length of 5.2 kilometer, several galleries with a total length of 490 meters, 15 bridges with a total length of 634 meters and some other facilities.
Frist Deputy Minister of Transport, Suhrob Mirzozoda, had earlier told Asia-Plus that Beijing will award a grant of 1.307 billion Yuan (equivalent to 186 million U.S. dollars) for rehabilitation of the Qalai Khumb-Vanj section of the Dushanbe-Khorog-Kulma highway.
