Arunachal: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh heads to Siang to participate in programme

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on January 3 left Mohanbari Airforce Station helipad, Dibrugarh at 0950hrs and headed towards Siang, Arunachal Pradesh. 

Singh landed at Mohanbari Air Force Station, Dibrugarh as he is on a two-day visit to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Defence Minister is scheduled to take part in the programme in the Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh on January 3.

He will also attend the inaugural ceremony of several infrastructure projects constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in seven border States including the inauguration of the Siyom Bridge.

Besides this, he is supposed to inaugurate of the Siyom Bridge and E-Inaugurate 27 Projects of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) along with the release of BRO Vision and New Tech Handbook and interaction with locals.

Notably, the visit comes less than a month after troops from India and China clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Tawang sector.

The 100m long Siyom bridge over the river Siyom is a strategically important bridge because it allows the military to deploy troops to far-flung areas of the Line of Actual Control.

The Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt also informed Lok Sabha that the Ministry of Defence has entrusted the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) with the construction of roads in border areas, as per priority fixed by Army based on a five-year Long Term Roll over Works Plan (LTRoWP).

A total of 257 roads spanning 13,525.417 km have been built in the last five years, in 10 states and three Union territories,'' revealed data shared by Bhatt.

The BRO has constructed 64 roads spanning 3,097 km in Arunachal Pradesh and 43 roads spanning 3,140 km in Ladakh in the last five years, the data said further.

As per the shared data, the details of roads constructed in other states and Union Territories include -- 18 roads (663.535 km) in Sikkim; 22 roads (947.21 km) in Uttarakhand; 61 roads (2381.963km) in UT of Jammu and Kashmir' 13 roads (884.309 km) in Rajasthan.

Also read: Union Minister Rajnath Singh to inaugurate a series of developmental projects in Arunachal on January 3