Rajnath Singh to open 90 BRO projects on Tuesday

New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate 90 infrastructure projects of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Tuesday constructed under challenging weather conditions and at most inhospitable terrain locations. They have been constructed with an outlay of Rs 2,941 crore.

Last year, 103 BRO infrastructure projects of Rs 2,897 crore were inaugurated, while in 2021 there were 102 BRO infrastructure projects of Rs 2,229 crore, an official statement by the BRO said on Sunday.

In a ceremony organised by the BRO at Devak Bridge on the Bishnah-Kaulpur-Phulpur road in Jammu and Kashmir, the Defence Minister will inaugurate 22 roads, 63 bridges, the Nechiphu tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, two airfields in West Bengal and two helipads.

Notably, the BRO completed the construction of these critical strategic projects in a record timeframe and many of them have been constructed in a single working season using the state-of-the-art technology.

Out of these projects, 11 have been constructed in Jammu and Kashmir, 26 in Ladakh, 36 in Arunachal Pradesh, five in Mizoram, three in Himachal Pradesh, two each in Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West Bengal and one each in Nagaland, Rajasthan and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The highlight of the event will be the inauguration of the state-of-the-art 422.9-m long Devak Bridge, which is of strategic importance to the defence forces and will facilitate speedy induction of troops, heavy equipment and mechanised vehicles to forward areas, besides boosting socio-economic development in the region.

Another important infrastructure to be inaugurated will be the 500-m long Nechiphu tunnel on Balipara-Charduar-Tawang road in Arunachal Pradesh. This tunnel, along with the under construction Sela Tunnel, will provide an all-weather connectivity to the strategic Tawang region and will be beneficial to both the armed forces deployed in the region and the tourists visiting Tawang.

Reconstructed and revamped Bagdogra and Barrackpore airfields in West Bengal will also be inaugurated. These airfields have been successfully reconstructed by the BRO at a cost of Rs 529 crore. 

They will not only improve the defensive and offensive architecture of the Indian Air Force along northern borders but will also facilitate commercial flight operations in the region.

The Defence Minister will also carry out the inauguration of Nyoma airfield in Ladakh that will boost the air infrastructure in Ladakh and augment the IAF capability along northern borders.

BRO’s surge in road and bridge construction in the last three years has led to completion of many critical and strategic projects which has bolstered our defence preparedness vis-a-vis that of adversaries.

The BRO has also connected the farthest and most remote villages of the country like Huri in Arunachal Pradesh to the mainland. This connectivity has triggered reverse migration along border villages.