Rajnath Singh Inaugurates 90 Border Infrastructure Projects With A Focus On LAC

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh opened up 90 border infrastructure projects across 11 states and Union Territories on Tuesday. These projects include the Nechiphu tunnel, which will connect the strategic Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh all year round, and the laying of the foundation stone for a key military airfield in Nyoma, which is in eastern Ladakh.

The Border Roads Organisation is working on 90 projects, and 64 of them are in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, and Sikkim. In case of an emergency, these projects will make it easier for troops and supplies to move quickly to the Line of Actual Control. They will also make it easier for people to connect with each other.

Rajnath Singh opened the projects virtually at an event in Samba, Jammu. He said that the Nyoma airport “will be a game-changer for our armed forces because it will be a staging ground for Indian troops at forward posts in eastern Ladakh.”

India has built more facilities along the LAC in the last three years, both in eastern Ladakh and the North-East.

There are 11 projects in Jammu and Kashmir, 5 in Mizoram, 3 in Himachal Pradesh, 2 each in Uttarakhand and West Bengal, and 1 each in Nagaland, Rajasthan, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The projects are worth more than Rs 2,900 crore and include the Nechiphu tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, two airfields in West Bengal, two helipads, 22 roads, 63 bridges, and the Nechiphu tunnel.

Once it’s up and running, the 500-meter-long Nechiphu tunnel on the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang Road and the Se La tunnel, which is currently being built, will connect the crucial Tawang sector along the LAC all year long.

The easiest way to get to the Brahmaputra plains and the quickest way to get to Assam’s Tezpur is through the Tawang area. From Tawang, there are also lines of connection to Guwahati and the long Siliguri Corridor. This makes it a military important place.

The tunnel will go around the Nechiphu Pass, which is often foggy and slows down military convoys and other traffic a lot. It will make it easier for troops and supplies to move faster to the LAC by cutting the distance by about 5 km from what it is now. India sends its troops to Bomdila, Nechiphu, and Se La.

Singh said that the BRO will soon break a record by building the Shinku La tunnel, which will be the world’s tallest tunnel at 15,855 feet. It will link Lahaul-Spiti, which is in Himachal Pradesh, to the Zanskar Valley, which is in Ladakh, and it will work in any weather.

The Bagdogra and Barrackpore airfields in West Bengal are two other important projects that were started. The airfields, which cost more than Rs 500 crore to build, are a big improvement to the North-East’s air facilities. They will help the IAF be more ready while making it easier for commercial flights to operate in the area.

Singh also opened the Devak Bridge in the Samba area of J&K. This bridge is on the Bishnah-Kaulpur-Phulpur Road. In a statement, the government said that the modern 422.9-meter-long Class 70 RCC Devak bridge is of strategic importance because it will “enhance the operational preparedness of the Armed Forces and boost socio-economic development in the region.”

The BRO built these strategically important projects in record time, with most of them being done in a single working season with the help of cutting-edge technology.

Singh said in his speech that the BRO has built infrastructure projects in a number of countries, like Myanmar and Bhutan, which has helped to improve peace and cooperation with those countries.

He said that the BRO’s building projects not only help keep India’s borders safe, but also play a key role in the social and economic growth of faraway places. He liked how, despite having different ideas, state governments worked together to protect national interests.

Since 2021, the BRO has started 295 building projects with a total cost of Rs 8,000 crore. Since then, 90 of these projects have been started.