In an effort to counter China’s military infrastructure including roads along the line of Actual Control (lAC), especially in its areas opposite Uttarakhand, the Government is now constructing 19 roads in the hill State. These roads form part of 73 strategically important roads along the lAC stretching from ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
The Government has also approved construction and upgradation of 1,377 km of roads along the Nepal border with 173km in Uttarakhand, 640km in Uttar Pradesh and 564km in Bihar. India and China has 4,000 km long lAC and it is divided into western, middle and eastern sectors. While ladakh comprises western sector, the middle sector includes Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh while Arunachal Pradesh forms the eastern sector.
The middle sector has nearly 450km of lAC and the Government is now paying special attention to Uttarakhand, as this hill State also shares border with Nepal. As part of improving the strategic and critically important road network, the Government is now upgrading 19 roads measuring 440.74km in Uttarakhand.
Some of these roads were badly damaged during the devastating flood in Uttarakhand in August this year and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) along with the Army engineers worked on a war footing to repair them to ensure uninterrupted logistical link for the troops posted along the lAC.
The issue of strategic roads also figured in Parliament last week when the Defence Ministry was asked to spell out its strategy to build roads in bordering areas touching Uttarakhand and Nepal especially in the light of Chinese activities on the border. Giving a written reply in the lok Sabha, Defence Minister AK Antony said 73 roads were identified as critically and strategically important roads for construction along the China border. Out of these 73 roads, 19 are in Uttarakhand, he said.
As regards construction of roads in areas touching Nepal in the backdrop of the Chinese activities on the border, Antony informed the House about the road network plan in Uttarakhand, UP and Bihar. He said the Government has approved of construction and upgradation of 1,377km or roads along the Nepal border.
Besides the road network, the Government is also keen to fast-track construction of at least 12 rail links in the States bordering China as it has already constructed more than 10,000km of network in the Tibetan plateau. This network considerably enhances China’s capability to rush troops to the lAC along with weaponry in case of any emergency, whereas, India is lagging far behind in terms of rail and road connectivity. In fact, out of the 73 roads, only 17 roads were completed till last year in the strategically important Arunachal Pradesh.
Realising the disparity in terms of infrastructure vis-à-vis China, the Defence Ministry is now holding consultations with various stakeholders including Ministry of Environment and Forest to give faster clearance for construction of roads. Moreover, the State Governments were also urged to build the link roads to the strategically important roads within the stipulated time cycle. Meanwhile, the pace of modernising 32 airfields in the North-East has picked up and most of these airfields would be ready for combat flying in the next to three years, thereby, increasing the reach of the IAF to counter any threat from China.