The Arunachal Frontier Highway - India's toughest project!

The Modi government moves with Arunachal Frontier Highway, among India's 'toughest' projects yet, China in mind. There was a time when China did not allow the then PM Manmohan Singh's chopper to land in Arunachal Pradesh.

The 2,000 km-long highway will be of strategic importance to the Indian military. Same equipment used on the other side of LAC being deployed to carry out work on tough terrain.

Covering the entire Line of Actual Control (LAC) adjacent to Arunachal Pradesh, this project will cost at least Rs.40,000 crores. "One of India's biggest and toughest " road building projects.

* After seven decades of dithering on establishing border connectivity in the Northeast, India has initiated a massive infrastructure building, the showpiece of which is the Arunachal Frontier Highway, one of the country's biggest and toughest projects.

* Work on the project has already started in certain sections with state-of-the-art equipment deployed to fast track the whole process.

* The project, which was objected to by China in the past, is a 2,000-km long road that follows the McMahon Line.

* The road will begin from Mago in Arunachal Pradesh, adjacent to Bhutan and pass through Tawang, Upper Subansiri, Tuting, Mechuka, Upper Siang, Debang Valley, Desali, Chaglagam, Kibithu, Dong before ending at Vijayanagar near the Myanmar border.

* With this project, Arunachal Pradesh will get three national highways - the Frontier Highway, the Trans-Arunachal Highway and the East-West Industrial Corridor Highway.

* Six vertical and diagonal inter highway corridors totalling 2,178 km will be built to provide missing inter-connectivity between the three highways as well as to provide faster access to border areas.

* The corridors include the 402 km-long Thelamara-Tawang-Nelia Highway, the 391 km-long Itakhola-Pakke-Kessang-Seppa-Parsi Parlo Highway, the 285 km-long Gogamukh-Taliha-Tato Highway, the 398 km-long Akajan-Jorging-Pango Highway, the 298 km-long Pasighat-Bishing Highway and the 404 km-long Kanubari-Longding Highway.

* The Arunachal Frontier Highway will be a huge capability jump for the military since it will allow seamless and faster movement of both men and equipment to the border as and when needed for induction and de-induction.

* China had raised objections to the project in 2014 itself after it came across reports that the proposal got preliminary nod from the Prime Minister's Office.

* The project is being implemented by multiple agencies in close co-ordination with each including the Border Roads Organisation, the MoRTH and other agencies.

Faced with an assertive China, India has been carrying out a massive infrastructure push in the Northeast with a major focus on Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, fast tracking work on a number of bridges that can transport heavy equipment to tunnels, highways and feeder roads right up to the LAC.

My take

A much needed thrust in the beefing up of the border infrastructure!

Tailpiece.

Got up at a quarter past 6, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. 

Rejith comes to collect clothes for dry cleaning, Trijo comes and collects the cheque for his work, the waterman comes and gives me the water bill for the month and I recharged the FASTag.

The IFB guy comes to service the washing machine and renew the AMC.

The evening chores.