Modi Government to build roads along Chinese LAC to secure border In wake of rising Chinese incursions into Indian territory, the Centre is all set to take up major road-building exercises along the border with China. Besides China border, these roads will be constructed in Maoist terror hit areas, except those passing through wildlife sanctuaries in 117 districts, which make up one-fifth of all districts in India. In fact, the Forest Ministry has also granted diversion of up to five hectares of forestland in these districts for setting up of security posts, laying of optic fibre networks for communication purposes, construction of mobile towers and quarrying of material for construction of roads without mandatory appraisal process. The idea is to secure Indian borders and address internal security threats. The initiative also comes at a time when Chinese army has increased its activity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) including building of roads and rail network. China is planning to build 1,300km of rail network, including two lines linking Lhasa, and over 8,000km of roads. Construction of roads will help movement of Indian troops as well as security infrastructure. To ensure that the project sees the light of the day and does not get delayed, the Central Government has also decided to relax environment norms. It can very well be recalled that when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of the country, his Government had announced key infrastructure projects, including building of roads along the borders with China and Pakistan. To make this a reality, the Central Government has already taken steps by modifying rules to allow such projects without adhering to strict environment protection norms. Moreover, the Government further amended rules to waive off the compensatory afforestation requirement. The relaxation is going to help India in development of around 6,000 kilometres of roads within 100-kilometre of the border with China. The news reports also state that the Border Roads Organisation is constructing some 80 roads along the 4,056km China border from Arunachal Pradesh to Jammu and Kashmir, including widening of existing roads. It was also reported that the work will begin in a few months and may take eight to ten years to complete. While addressing a Press conference on September 2, Minister for Environment and Forest Prakash Javadekar said, ” If we don’t have good roads, how can we compete with China on strategic defence? We can protect our environment only if we protect our borders”. Apart from making securing borders, it will also create job opportunities for the locals which will boost country’s economy. However, a few experts have raised questions regarding construction of roads in Himalayas because of its fragile ecology and a major forest area will sacrificed which can have an adverse affect on local ecology.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 13:09:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015