ITANAGAR, Sept 12: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday
virtually inaugurated 36 road and bridge projects in Arunachal
Pradesh, including the strategically located Nechiphu tunnel
connecting Tawang with Assam’s Balipara.
The defence minister dedicated to the nation a total of 90 key
border infrastructure projects across the country virtually from
Jammu.
The 90 projects of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) along
the Line of Actual Control with China are worth Rs 2,941 crore.
Singh virtually inaugurated 22 roads, 63 bridges, Nechiphu
tunnel, two airfields and two helipads across the nation, BRO
officials said.
Chief minister Pema Khandu and Director General of Police
Anand Mohan witnessed the event from Sessa in West Kameng
district.
Situated at an altitude of 5,700 feet, Nechiphu tunnel on the
Balipara-Charduar-Tawang road in West Kameng district is a
unique D-shaped single-tube double-lane tunnel that will
provide all-weather connectivity to the strategic Tawang region
and will be beneficial for both armed forces and tourists,
officials said.
The tunnel will bypass the Nechiphu Pass, where extreme foggy
conditions prevail, causing hindrance to general traffic and
military convoys.
“An architectural masterpiece, the strategically located tunnel
will facilitate the swift movement of troops as well as citizens.
Cutting a short distance by about 5 km, the tunnel will provide
ease of travel and connectivity in the stretch that has dense
fog,” Khandu said in X, formerly Twitter.
The BRO has recently completed the construction of eight roads
in Arunachal Pradesh along the LAC at a cost of Rs 678 crore.
Of the total projects dedicated to the nation by Singh, 11 are in
Jammu and Kashmir, 26 in Ladakh, 36 in Arunachal Pradesh,
five in Mizoram, three in Himachal Pradesh, two each in Sikkim,
Uttarakhand and West Bengal and one each in Nagaland,
Rajasthan, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The projects inaugurated in Arunachal Pradesh include eight
road projects and 20 bridges. (PTI)
