How India seeing infra push under PM Modi govt in border areas to counter Chinese aggression

Apart from road connectivity projects, Modi govt is giving push to strengthen mobile connectivity in Tawang and other bordering areas of Arunachal Pradesh.

New Delhi, Dec 20: In a bid to counter the Chinese aggression, the Narendra Modi-led BJP government is carrying out infrastructure development in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh.

"We have national highways, single-lane roads, double-lane roads and other types of roads as well. We want to connect even the far-flung areas of the Tawang district and contribute to the socio-economic development of this area," a news agency quoted Brig Raman Kumar, the chief engineer of 'Project Vartak', as saying. He claims that two tunnels (the Sela tunnel and the Nechipu tunnel) are being constructed as the vehicular movement becomes difficult due to heavy snowfall during winter.

"The Sela tunnel is under construction and is 400 meters below Sela pass. Once the tunnel is completed, people will be able to pass through it even in winter. We are also working on the Nechipu tunnel, near the Nechipu pass. Once they are completed, both military as well as civilian vehicular movement would be a lot more smooth. It will boost not just infrastructure in the area but tourism as well," he further said.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is developing and maintaining all road networks in the key border areas of western Assam and western Arunachal Pradesh.

In addition to the road connectivity projects, the Centre is giving a push to strengthen mobile connectivity in Tawang and other bordering areas of Arunachal Pradesh. More mobile towers have been installed in Tawang and other border areas of the Tawang district, along the LAC.

"The mobile and internet connectivity has improved but still it is not up to the mark. There are a lot of disturbances," a resident told the news agency. Localities tell that they are now able to access Facebook and WhatsApp which were not possible earlier.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has decided to construct a 1,748-km highway for seamless connectivity.

The centre is coming up with a two-lane road, called as 'Frontier Highway, that will run close to the India-Tibet-China-Myanmar border and it will be as close to 20 km from the international border in some parts, a daily reported. The project assumes huge strategic significance as it helps defence forces of easy movement as well as equipment to the border areas.

"Nearly 800 km of the corridor will be greenfield as there is no existing road on these stretches. There will be some bridges and tunnels as well. We have chalked out the plan to complete the sanctioning of all works in 2024-25 and usually, it takes around two years to complete construction. Different packages will get completed as we progress while the entire project is expected for completion by 2026-27," the daily quoted an official as saying.

The road is designated as NH-913 and the construction starts from Bomdila. The highway will go via Nafra, Huri and Monigong, the closest point on the India-Tibet border. Also, Jido and Chenquenty, the points closest to the China border, will also be covered by the highway. It will end at Vijaynagar, near India-Myanmar border.