Sisseri River Bridge | 16 Nov 2019
Recently, the Defence Minister inaugurated the Sisseri River Bridge located at lower Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh. The 200m long bridge provides connectivity between Dibang Valley and Siang.
- The bridge was constructed by ‘Project Brahmank’ of Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
- There are four projects of BRO in Arunachal Pradesh namely Vartak, Arunank, Brahmank, and Udayak to not only meet the strategic requirement of India but also contribute to the socio-economic development of the region.
- This bridge is strategically important from the military viewpoint and will be a part of Trans Arunachal Highway.
- The Trans-Arunachal Highway was ₹10,000-crore two-lane highway project that aimed to connect Tawang in the west to Kanubari in the east of Arunachal Pradesh. It was conceived in 2008.
- The Government has adopted the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) for infrastructural upgradation of the area, necessary for the security of the North-East and the entire country.
Border Area Development Programme
- BADP was started in the year 1986-87 for balanced development of border areas of states bordering Pakistan, namely, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. It was subsequently extended to all the land borders.
- The programme is administered by the Department of Border Management of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
- States are provided a 100% non-lapsable Special Central Assistance fund under BADP to meet the special developmental needs and well being of the people living in remote and inaccessible areas situated near the international border.
- The programme was amended in 2015 to provide the provision for third party inspection and quality control mechanism under MHA for random inspections of the BADP schemes.