Tussle in central government over plans to build two mega highways in Arunachal Pradesh

NEW DELHI: Even as the BJP is engaged in a fierce legal battle with the Congress for control of Arunachal Pradesh, a behind the scenes tussle is on within the central government on a critical issue related to the border state. The issue involves ambitious plans to build two mega highways — the 13,000 km Tawang-Vijaynagar Frontier Highway and East-West Industrial Corridor — in Arunachal Pradesh. The decision on the highways was taken at a meeting in September 2014 by BJP’s Arunachal MP and Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju.

The frontier highway was even included in the initial drafts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet ‘Bharatmala’ project. But more than a year since the two highways were conceived, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has rejected the industrial corridor and put conditions for constructing the frontier highway citing massive financial commitments on existing projects.




Documents ET accessed through RTI, interview of Rijiju and a few officials from ministries related to the project reveals that there is an intragovernment tussle over the issue. Documents show, less than three months after Rijiju took the decision of getting the highways built through the highways ministry, minister Nitin Gadkari wrote to him asking the project to be given to the Ministry of Defence/Border Roads Organisation.

Gadkari said that the ministry was already building 10,141km at a cost of Rs 55,000 crore and “land compensation costs have shown a huge increa funse in recent months” so it was “difficult for MoRTH to consider any additional length of road”. He then suggested to Rijiju to look for “alternative source of funding for the proposed infrastructure” and to “assign its responsibility to the Ministry of Defence/BRO involved in developing border infrastructure.”

It is the border link that made the DGMO feel concerned about the project. An early 2015 record of the DGMO’s concern raised with the home ministry said, “the proposal entails construction of roads and tun nels along a fresh alignment in close proximity 15-40 km of LAC which is not operationally desirable”. He also said that the proposal overlaps with existing plans. The DGMO suggested another alignment for the road and Empowered Committee on Border Infrastructure put the onus of land acquisition, green clearances etc on the state government. Rijiju told ET both the highways are needed: “Without roads, to talk about infrastructure is meaningless.

It is true that funding has become an issue. It's not very encouraging at present.” Officials said fun ding issues, “may have also led to the frontier highway project being taken off the prestigious Bharatmala Project.” However, documents accessed by ET show an August 2015 communication by the PMO to MoRTH seeking to “reexamine the proposal” of Bharatmala Project and “approve project irrespective of cost”. The PMO communication did not specify any project and merely sought inclusion of a “basic list of 7,000 km of roads”. MoRTH, already burdened with past commitments in Arunachal, appears to have chosen not to include any fresh projects in Bharatmala.

Rijiju is still optimistic about the projects: “I wrote back to Gadkariji that it is our responsibility to ensure road connectivity and money has to be found. He is very helpful towards the northeast. We will approach NITI Aayog for guidance. We have agreed with the changed alignment of the DGMO.”