India to build 7,600 km of roads in strategic northeast
Nov 21, 2006 - 12:34:00 AM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
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'Fifty km has already been constructed and we are determined to complete the rest. Unfortunately, the road goes through the drug cultivation belt and this is causing some difficulties,' the minister added.
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By Indo Asian News Service,
[RxPG] New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS) India has embarked on an ambitious project to build and refurbish 7,603 km of roads in the strategic northeastern region by 2013 to increase connectivity for civilian and military traffic and to promote trade with China and Myanmar.
Of this, 1,310 km will be constructed at a cost of Rs.76 billion by 2009 and the balance 5,711 km at a cost of Rs.44 billion, Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju announced after a meeting of the Border Roads Development Board here Monday. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is under the operational command of the defence ministry but is funded by the ministry of road transport and highways.
In addition, the government had earlier this year sanctioned the construction of 582 km of roads in Arunachal Pradesh that shares a 1,126-km-long border with China. No figures have been released for this.
This mega project apart, the BRO has completed the refurbishment of a military airfield in Tajikistan and is 'determined' to complete a 217 km highway it is building in Afghanistan that had been in the news in April when a BRO engineer was kidnapped and killed by suspected Taliban, Raju said.
Back home, the BRO hopes to complete by 2012 what has been described an engineering marvel - a nine km tunnel through the 13,000 ft Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh that will provide an alternate and all-weather route to the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
And, given its additional projects the BRO has been given sanction to increase its authorised strength of 42,000 from the 32.000 it had plummeted to since 2002, the minister said
The 12 roads in the northeast are being constructed under the government's Special Accelerated Road Development Programme (SARDP) that 'is not necessarily linked to similar construction on the Chinese side,' the minister said in reply to a press conference after the meeting.
'It is meant to improve connectivity in the region for our internal security requirements and to improve trade links with China and Myanmar,' he added.
China has recently linked the Tibetan capital of Lhasa by rail and plans to extend this line to some 100 km from the Indian border in Sikkim. China is also known to have embarked on major road building projects at various points along its border with India that lies along Arunachal Pradesh.
In an interview last week ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit that begins Tuesday, Beijing's envoy here Sun Yuxi had stirred a hornet's nest by declaring that his country claimed the bulk of Arunachal Pradesh, over which the countries had fought a bitter border war in 1962. Chinese authorities later backtracked, saying the issue could be resolved in a spirit of 'compromise'.
Be that as it may, the SARDP announcement Monday is a clear indication that the Indian government will not budge an inch on Arunachal Pradesh.
'This project is not in response to what our neighbour is doing but is meant to strengthen trade ties,' Raju maintained.
Phase one of the project commenced April 1.
Referring to the Tajik project, which is located near capital Dushanbe, Raju said this had been completed Oct 31 and the BRO personnel were gradually returning home, the minister said.
The project involved strengthening of the runway and building hangars and logistical facilities. There have been reports that the Indian Air Force (IAF) plans to station - either permanently or temporarily - one or two squadrons of fighters to protect New Delhi's energy security requirement in the Central Asian region. These reports, have, however, not been officially confirmed.
On Afghanistan, Raju admitted to delays and cost overruns in constructing a 217-km-long highway from Delaran to Zaranj near the Iranian border.
'Fifty km has already been constructed and we are determined to complete the rest. Unfortunately, the road goes through the drug cultivation belt and this is causing some difficulties,' the minister added.
The costs had also gone up due to the need to increase security in the wake of the murder of Indian engineer K. Suryanarayana, Raju said.
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