Director General Border Roads (DGBR) Lt Gen Harpal Singh on Wednesday informed that the bhoomi puja for starting the construction work of a tunnel through the Sela Pass in Arunachal Pradesh would be held in January next year.
The tunnel at Sela Pass, located on the border between the Tawang and West Kameng districts at an elevation of 13,700 ft will ensure faster movement of troops in the strategically located parts of the state bordering China.
The plan for the tunnel was made amid concerns in the defence establishment over China’s growing assertiveness along the nearly 4,000 km-long Indo-Sino border. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced the government’s plan to build the tunnel in February this year.
Lt Singh who called on State Chief Minister Pema Khandu at his office in Itanagar to apprise about the status of road works in the State under Border Roads Organization (BRO) informed that, tenders have been floated for the said work and administration from Tawang and West Kameng has ratified joint surveys.
Singh sought support of the State government for statutory clearances to which Chief Minister Khandu assured all his support.
During the meeting, the DGBR also informed Khandu about the progress of works of operationally critical roads in the Area of Responsibility of Project Arunank near India-China border in Upper Subansiri district.
Lt Singh informed that he had inspected the roads recently travelling by road from Tama Chung Chung (TCC) to Taksing and TCC to Bidak. He informed that civil vehicles are now running upto Tama Chung Chung from Nacho. Blacktopping works have also completed up to 55km from Nacho and by this year significant work will be completed stretching towards Lemiking and beyond.
Further, the Lt Gen informed about the inspection of Hapoli- Sarli-Huri Road.
Discussing on the 317-km-long Balipara-Charduar-Tawang (BCT) road, which is the lifeline of West Kameng and Tawang districts, the BRO officials informed that significant achievement has been made on improving the road to two-lane road.
The DGBR informed that stretch from 0-50 km road has been completed and stretch from 70-88 km is being carried out on EPC mode. The meeting also discussed on status of Dirang bypass and Jung bypass included under the BCT road.
The Chief Minister requested the BRO to expedite work on improving the road from PTSO lake to Bumla pass and appreciated their dedication in working in extremely remote area exhorting them to continue the good work and ensure timely completion of the task with highest quality.
He further assured full support of the State Government in expediting works on all borders roads in the State.
Earlier on the day, Lt Gen Singh also called on Governor Brig (Retd) Dr B D Mishra at Raj Bhawan during which they discussed the steps to be taken to strengthen the road communication in the State.
The Governor said that the road communication in Arunachal Pradesh is vital for the development of the State and security of the Nation.