The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is ramping up infrastructure development in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by building roads, tunnels and even enhancing the mobile connectivity in these states, informed Brig Raman Kumar, Chief Engineer, Project Vartak. The infrastructure build-up is being done under Project Vartak.
BRO is working on building two tunnels in the Tawang and West Kameng districts of Arunachal Pradesh apart from deepening the road network in the region, which will give a major boost to the infrastructure connectivity in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh.
Nechiphu tunnel
According to the officials, while the construction of the Nechiphu tunnel is nearing completion, the Sela Pass tunnel will be completed in 5-6 months.
The work on the 500-metre long ‘D-shaped, Single Tube Double Lane’ Nechiphu tunnel in the West Kameng district, located at a height of 5700 feet on the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang (BCT) road will be over soon.
An important feature of the tunnel will be, it will facilitate traffic under extremely foggy conditions, a challenge faced by the general traffic and military convoys for many decades. Moreover, equipped with modern lighting and safety facilities, it will enable two-way traffic.
The other features of the tunnel include:
– Firefighting devices
– Auto illumination system and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCA) monitoring systems
– Raised footpaths on both sides
– Ducts for power cables, Optical fibre cables
– Utility lines to strengthen the civic amenities infrastructure
Sela pass tunnel
“In the winter season, traffic movement is hampered in the current Sela pass road,” said the head of Project Vartak, Brig Ram Kumar in an interview with ANI. “Now with the construction of the Sela Pass tunnel traffic will be allowed throughout the year. The heavy vehicles whether it is security forces or private industry equipment which is moving to the area will be able to pass easily through the Sela tunnel and accessibility to Tawang will be opened up. As well as it will boost tourism. It is a very important tunnel. The BRO is very happy and proud to give this to the nation,” Brig Raman Kumar said.
Notably, the Indian and the Chinese forces engaged in hand-to-hand combat in the Tawang district, one of the regions, where the massive infrastructure ramp-up is underway. The PLA soldiers from China intruded to attempt to capture a 17,000 feet peak on the Indian side however the Indian Army soldiers chased them away, an undated video of which had also emerged.
Kumar said, in addition to the two tunnels, construction for various bridges and helipads is also underway, which will add to the overall development of the Tawang district.
Image: ANI