On November 15, 2019 the union defence minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Sisseri River bridge at Lower Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh and has also inaugurated National Highway-52 (NH52) in East Siang district of the state. This 200-metre long bridge which connects Dibang Valley and Siang district, was built by Project Brahmank of the Border Roads Organisation(BRO). It was built on the Pasighat- Bomjir highway. This bridge would now reduce the travel time by 5 hours.
11th Maitree Diwas in Arunachal Pradesh:
The defence minister also attended the 11th edition of Maitree Diwas (Civil-Military Friendship) in Arunachal Pradesh. The festival symbolises patriotism of the people of the region and their close relationship with the Armed Forces. The 2-day socio-military cultural festival was jointly organised by the Indian Army, Tawang civil administration and volunteers at the high-altitude stadium of Arunachal Pradesh. It was first celebrated in 2004 by the initiation of Late Dorjee Khandu, former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh.
Theme: The theme of the event was “Know Your Army.”
Key Points:
i.Sisseri Bridge: The Sisseri River built on Jonai-Pasighat-Ranaghat-Roing road, provides connectivity to Tinsukia via Dhola-Sadiya bridge. The bridge is considered to be strategically important from military point of view too and will be a part of Trans Arunachal Highway.
ii.The govt. has adopted Border Area Development Programme (BADP) in the view of providing security to the people residing in the border areas. The govt’s Act East Policy is expected to pave the way for infrastructure development in the north east region especially in Arunachal Pradesh.
iii.Projects initiated in the state: The defence minister listed out various projects initiated by the govt. in the state. Some of them include proposed Bhalukpong – Tenga – Tawang railway line, operationalisation of Pasighat airport, Hollongi airport and approval to construct Sela Pass tunnel.
iv.BRO projects: There are actually 4 projects in the Arunachal Pradesh namely Vartak, Arunank, Brahmank and Udayak.
v.Members present: Chief Minister(CM) of Arunachal Pradesh Shri Shri Pema Khandu, Deputy CM Shri Chowna Mein; Director General(DG) of Border Roads Lt General Harpal Singh; Arunachal East Member of Parliament Shri Tapir Gao and others were present during the event.
About Border Roads Organisation(BRO):
Founded-7 May 1960.
Founder- Jawaharlal Nehru
Headquarters- New Delhi.
Motto- Everything is achievable through hard work (Shramena Sarvam Sadhyam)
