States: Arunachal Pradesh Highway system Indian road network | Length 2,000 km Major cities Tawang, Changlang | |
West end: Mago-Thingbu in Tawang district East end: Vijaynagar in Changlang district | ||
The Mago-Thingbu–Vijaynagar Border Highway, also known as Arunachal Frontier Highway, in Arunachal Pradesh India is a 2,000-kilometre-long (1,200 mi) road proposed to be built along the McMahon Line (international border between India and China) by the Government of India at the cost of INR40,000 crore (approx. US$6.5 billion as per 2014 prices).
Contents
Alignment
The high altitude highway will originate from Mago-Thingbu in Tawang district and meander through the following border areas of Arunachal Pradesh along the McMahon Line: West Kameng district; East Kameng district; Upper Subansiri district; Mechuka in West Siang district; Tuting in Upper Siang district; Dibang Valley district; Desali in Lower Dibang Valley district; Chaglagam, Kibithu, Dong & Hawai all in Anjaw district; and end at Vijaynagar in Changlang district at the junction of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland and Mayanmar. The map of alignment can be seen here and here.
This highway will intersect with the proposed East-West Industrial Corridor Highway, Arunachal Pradesh in the foothill areas of the Arunachal Pradesh state from Bhairabkunda, the tri-junction of Bhutan, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to Ruksin in East Siang district which will serve as an industrial corridor for the people residing in the foothill areas of the state”.
The Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Forum for Regional Cooperation (BCIM Forum) has proposed to build a multi-mode BCIM Economic Corridor that includes a highway from China to Bangladesh through Mayanmar and India which is proposed to originate from Calcutta in India's West Bengal state to Kunming in China's Yunnan province passing through Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh, India's north-eastern states of Manipur & Assam, and Myanmar's Mandalay as well as northern provinces. The proposed Mago-Thingbu to Vijaynagar Border Highway would be connected to the BCIM Economic Corridor Highway.
Current status
Currently, along the alignment of this proposed road there is "little habitation" and there are only "small stretches of minor roads".
In 2014 October, Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs of India was trying to expedite the project along with another proposed highway East-West Industrial Corridor Highway, Arunachal Pradesh in Arunachal Pradesh as he said “I am proposing to undertake this road along with another in the foothill areas of Arunachal Pradesh state from Bhairabkunda in Assam located at the tri-junction of Bhutan, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to Ruksin in East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh state which will serve as an industrial corridor for the people residing in the foothill areas of the state”.
This highway is one of the 29 corridors identified by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, India close to international border covering around 3,600 km, these are proposed to be undertaken as a National Highway Development Project (NHDP).
An assessment by the Ministry of Defence (India) in 2013 found that of the 503 stretches on the borders planned to be completed by 2022, only 17 are complete now. Work is underway on just 50. The new Bhartiya Janta Party-led Government of India is trying to expedite these projects with the coordinated efforts of Border Roads Organisation, Ministry of Defence (India), Government of Arunachal Pradesh, National Highways Development Project, Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region and National Security Advisor (India).
Why the Highway is proposed
Various Government of India and media sources have mentioned the following reasons:
This highway will help in the employment generation and increase tourism these inaccessible areas.
To check Chinese incursions in the Indian area and China has built extensive road and railway network on its side, posing a security risk to India in this region inaccessible on the Indian side at present.