PM Narendra Modi to visit Arunachal Pradesh on March 9

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Itanagar: Ahead of the simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to embark on a daylong visit to the Northeastern state on March 9, to inaugurate several vital projects.

Modi will dedicate to the nation, the Sela Tunnel, at a function to be held at Baisakhi in West Kameng district. He will also lay the foundation stone of various projects here, before proceeding to neighboring Assam, a state government official said here on Wednesday.

The strategic Sela tunnel project, situated at an elevation of 13,000 feet, will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Sela tunnel is strategically important due to its proximity to the line of actual control (LAC), an official said. The tunnel, located near Sela Pass, was necessitated as the Balipara-Charidwar-Tawang Road remains closed for an extended period due to snowfall and landslides caused by heavy rainfall.

The tunnel will enhance the Indian army’s capabilities at the LAC by ensuring speedy deployment of troops, weapons and machinery to the forward areas along the Sino-India border.

The foundation of the project was laid by the Prime Minister Modi in February 2019, with a cost estimation of Rs 697 crore, but work got delayed due to various reasons, including the Covid pandemic. Construction work had started in April 2019.

The project comprises two tunnels, with the first being a single-tube tunnel of 980 metres in length, and the second being 1.5-km-long with an escape tube for emergencies.

The Sela tunnel has been constructed with the new Austrian tunneling method and the final breakthrough in Tunnel 1 was recorded on January 22 this year. During the visit, the PM will also dedicate and lay the foundation stone of around twenty development projects, the official added.

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