Rs 1,000 cr earmarked for roads in Arunachal

Correspondent

ITANAGAR, Jan 22 – Union Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju has said that the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which is entrusted with construction work of roads in Arunachal, has been earmarked a sum of Rs 1,000 crore, accounting for 22 per cent of the State’s total budget, for roads construction in the State.

The Union Minister, who was on a two-day visit to the State to oversee the progress of road construction in the border State, told media here on Wednesday that the BRO has set a target of constructing 5,061 kms of roads in Arunachal Pradesh and at present, 2,764 km of roads are in various stages of construction in the State.

Raju, who earlier chaired the Border Roads Development Board (BRDB) meeting, convened for the first time in Itanagar, with a view to expedite the ongoing border road projects in the State and the country as a whole, cited various impediments coming in BRO’s way like lack of manpower, equipment, allotment of land, clearance from Ministry of Forests and Environment.

“The BRO is faced with the major challenges like lack of manpower and airlifting of men, machines and materials to the hilly interiors and border areas. The other impediments like Forest and Wildlife clearances, which are pending with Ministry of Forest and Environment (MoEF) also created roadblock for the construction agency. Though there has been some headway in the meeting between BRO and the officials of MoEF. Forty cases have been disposed of but nine cases are still pending in the State,” he added.

On a query about the Centre’s effort to tackle militant activities along the Indo-Myanmar border in Changlang district, he said the Central Government was not in favour of sealing the borders with Myanmar despite being aware of the fact that creating a physical boundary could hinder people of two neighbouring countries.

The Union Minister, however, ducked a query on opening of the historic Stilwell Road that could bolster the prospect of border trade between India and Myanmar. “I am not aware of any move from the Centre to open the Stilwell Road,” he simply said.

BRDB Secretary Dr Subhash Sharma said that 29 road projects in the State have been taken up by the BRO. “We are focusing on completing the road projects by the year 2012,” he said. ASSAM TRIBUNE