113 road projects worth ₹2,420.97 crore were sanctioned in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand for 2023-24. This is under the Vibrant Village Programme along the India-China border. Additionally, the third phase of the India-China Border Ro...
A year after the Vibrant Village Programme (VVP) along the India-China border was launched, 113 road projects worth ₹2,420.97 crore in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand were sanctioned in 2023-24, said the Union home ministry's annual report.
The third phase of the strategic India-China Border Roads (ICBR) project was also started in Ladakh, where the Indian and Chinese forces clashed at Galwan in 2020. China recently announced a 60,000 megawatt dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, near Arunachal Pradesh.
Officials said the road projects will significantly boost network and improve connectivity along the India-China border. A review is held at regular intervals, they said.
The Union government in 2023 approved VVP as a centrally sponsored scheme for the development of selected villages in 19 border districts in 46 blocks of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh. A total of ₹4,800 crore, including ₹2,500 crore exclusively for road connectivity, was allocated for 2022-23 to 2025-26.
According to the ministry's report, around 6,000 activities including fairs, festivals, promotion of local cultural heritage, awareness camps, sports meet, health screening camps and veterinary camps, were organised in the past one year.
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India and China share a 3,488-km border along Ladakh, Arunachal, Himachal, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.
In Ladakh, India did 'formation cutting', which involves fresh alignments and earthworks, at a pace of 470 km roads per year from 2017-20, more than double that of the 230 km a year achieved in the decade until 2017, as per official data. Under ICBR phase I and II, 73 roads had been identified as strategic and 61 of those entrusted to BRO. In eastern Ladakh, five new roads have been identified under phase III, to be constructed by BRO and Central Public Works Department, said an official.
In several cases, roads with single or double lanes have been upgraded to four-lane, all-weather roads, said another official.
Along India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders, a total of 3785.30 km of border roads have been constructed, out of the sanctioned length of 4,223.04 km, according to the ministry's report.
