Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Monday inaugurated 29 bridges built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in frontier Arunachal Pradesh.
Recently, Singh had inaugurated 10 strategic border roads in the frontier state.
BRO officials said 13 bridges are located in Upper Subansiri, Dibang Valley, Siang and West Siang, Siang, Lohit, West Kameng, Kra Daadi, Changlang, Anjaw and Shi-Yomi.
A close look at the locations reveal that 24 of the bridges are in seven of the 12 districts bordering China, which claim the frontier state as a part of south Tibet and is now engaged in a long-drawn territorial standoff with India in Ladakh.
The seven districts include West Kameng, Kra Daadi, Upper Subansiri, Shi-Yomi, Upper Siang, Dibang Valley, and Anjaw. The other districts bordering China include Tawang, East Kameng, Kurung Kumey and Lower Dibang Valley.
Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080-km border with China, 440km with Myanmar and 160km with Bhutan.
Singh tweeted: “I’m confident that the bridges inaugurated today (Monday) will play a crucial role in strengthening security as well as promoting the economic development of the respective states through improved connectivity.”
The Centre has expedited development of border districts not only to facilitate the movement of the armed forces, but also to stop the migration of people from the border for lack of development.
Singh dedicated 63 bridges spread over eight states through the virtual mode from Ladakh, including 29 in Arunachal Pradesh, eight in Sikkim, one each in Nagaland and Manipur, 11 in Ladakh, four in J&K, three in Himachal Pradesh and six in Uttarakhand.
