An ambitious road project planned along the McMahon Line in Arunachal Pradesh has hit the Indian Army hurdle. The Army is opposed to constructing any road close to the disputed border with China, said a senior Home Ministry official.
The proposed 1,500-km India-China frontier highway will run parallel along the China border. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, which was initially approached for the project, had declined to work on it citing that it was financially not viable.
The project is said to cost anywhere between Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 40,000 crore. The Home Ministry is now looking to rope in an international contractor to complete the project.
At a meeting last week, the Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) had opposed the project, and said that the alignment of the roads proposed was not conducive from security point of view.
The DGMO also opposed the demand of opening advance landing grounds for civilian use. The State government has been demanding that all the eight advance landing grounds should be thrown open for civilian aircraft to boost connectivity in the region.
An official said that last week a senior Indian Air Force officer inaugurated the advance landing ground at Mechuka without the consent of the State government.
The proposed highway will pass through Tawang, East Kameng, Upper Subansiri, West Siang, Upper Siang, Dibang Valley, Desali, Chaglagam, Kibito, Dong, Hawai and Vijaynagar on the Arunachal Pradesh border. The government has already relaxed environmental clearances for border area projects.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said, “I will be calling a meeting of all stakeholders soon to resolve the issue. The area needs connectivity.”
Earlier, an Empowered Committee led by Secretary, Border Management, tasked by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), held a meeting with the DGMO where the latter put forth the objections.
A delegation of Arunachal Pradesh MLAs, led by its Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, will soon petition the Prime Minister to resolve the issue.
