As per media reports, the Government of India will build a 1,748 km long “Frontier highway” close to the India-Tibet-China-Myanmar border in Arunachal Pradesh in the next five years.
Key features of “frontier highway”
- It will be as close as 20 km from the international border. The two-lane highway, NH-913, will aim to stop infiltration in the border areas and will be built by the transport ministry.
- The highway will start from Bomdila and pass through Nafra, Huri and Monigong. It will pass through Jido and Chenquenty, close to the China border and end at Vijaynagar, near the India-Myanmar border.
- The proposed highway would give a big boost to the easy movement of defence forces as well as equipment to the border areas.
- China, too has been building infrastructure on its side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
- In 2018, the Centre notified the corridor in Arunachal Pradesh as a National Highway (NH). Once a road is notified as the NH, it is the responsibility of the transport ministry to build it.
Border area development projects
- Government of India is implementing the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) through the State Governments/UT Administrations in habitations located within 0-10 kms. from the first habitation at international border in 460 border blocks of 117 border districts in 16 States and 2 UTs viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir (UT) and Ladakh (UT).
- Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) has been announced in the Finance Minister’s Budget Speech 2022. The programme envisages coverage of border villages on Northern border having sparse population, limited connectivity and infrastructure, which often get left out from the development gains.
