Centre to ease traffic on Arunachal border roads

There are 18 roads that have been included under the “strategic roads” category approved by the ministry for shipping, roads and highways for improvement.

The long stretches of “Indo-Myanmar” roads which require improvement include the 157-km Vijaynagar-Miao Road, 75-km Lazu-Wakka Road, 44-km Manmao-Changlang Road and 40-km Sangkuhavi-Lazu Road.

Details were given in a reply to a starred question today in the Rajya Sabha from MPs B.J. Panda and Pramila Bohidar.

Union minister for road transport T.R. Baalu explained the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme.

The programme is for improvement of 7,616-km-long stretches of national highways, state roads, general staff roads and roads of strategic importance in the Northeast.
These roads have been divided into phases A and B.

Phase B, comprising 2,118 km national highways and 4,188 state roads, general staff roads and strategic roads has been approved only for the preparation of detailed project reports.
Roads in the border area fall under phase B for which work is yet to begin.

In his answer, Baalu hinted at the need to have a specific programme for backward regions.
“Apart from the special programmes like National Highways Development project and special accelerated programmes, the development of national highways is generally undertaken through statewise annual plans.

No specific programme has been formulated for the development of backward region in the country,” he rued.

Since September 2005, the government has approved Rs 1,890 crore to upgrade the existing two-lane NH-37 from Nagaon-Dibrugarh to four-lane and Rs 486 crore for converting the Dimapur-Kohima NH-39 to a four-lane one.

Sources: TELEGRAINDIA