Itanagar: Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and Arunachal Pradesh government have responded with alacrity to the Centre's plan to construct roads along the Indo-China border for the movement of defence forces as well as Arunachalees living along the boundary.
While Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju has announced a challenging 2000-km-long road along the McMahon Line from Mago-Thingbu in Tawang district to Vijaynagar in Changlang district, whose survey and investigation would begin this year, the BRO has expedited the work for the 221-km Daporijo-Taksing road in Upper Subansiri district.
BRO's 'Project Arunank' Chief Engineer Brig H K Pokhariyal called on Home Minister Tanga Byaling here last month to apprise him of the progress following resentment by a local leader about the pace of work.
Attributing the delay to natural calamity that had washed away the 3.5-km road from Yarbe to Kayte Nala that had forced the BRO to develop another alignment along river Subansiri, the official said that cutting the 80 to 90 degree vertical rock formation to build the road was a great challenge and time consuming.
However, earth cutting is going from both ends even by deploying additional equipment like medium weight crawler rock driller to speed up progress, Byaling said quoting the official.
During the 1962 Chinese aggression, rifleman Shere Thapa of 1 JAK Rifles had killed many Chinese jawans at the inaccessible Tama Chungchung ridge near the source of Subansiri river before being gunned down by PLA. His mortal remains were buried there. His memorial stands tall at Ime Seiko Nala and he is highly revered by locals. BRO had built a bridge in 2010 and named after the martyr, whom the Army had declared a deserter and wrote him off its records.
Byaling appreciated the BRO's efforts and progress, going by the communication and transportation problems of the locals who have to walk down for days together carrying their essentials from Limiking to Taksing.
He assured all possible help for early completion of the road to provide solace to the Arunachalees.
