NEW DELHI: Was China’s claim to a portion of eastern Bhutan partly triggered by Indian road activity in that area? There’s speculation this may have been the case. An old plan to upgrade an existing dirt track in the Kameng sector in Indian territory but along the edge of the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary in Bhutan has being undertaken by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in the past couple of years. When operational, this road—from Mandala to Jung and further to Tawang—(see map) will provide an alternate route to Tawang which is connected only by the old Balipara-Charduar-Tawang road so far.
The massive upgrade of road infrastructure in the Kameng Sector is surely being watched closely by the Chinese. Unable to object or slow down India’s plans, Chinese security planners may have thought of raising objection to a funding programme meant for Bhutan’s Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary abutting the Indian border.
As StratNews Global reported last week, China raised objections in a meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) held as recently as 2-3 June. The Council was meeting to decide on funding for various environmental projects across the world. One of the projects seeking funds was the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) in eastern Bhutan’s Trashigang district bordering India (Arunachal Prradesh) and China (see map).
As the SWS request came up for discussion, sources said, the Chinese member of the GEF Council raised objections against the proposal, contending that the sanctuary was located in a disputed area between Bhutan and China. The objection came as a shock to the Council meeting but the GEF Secretariat immediately rebutted the Chinese contention pointing out that the SWS was located within the sovereign territory of Bhutan, the sources added. Bhutan has issued a demarche to the Chinese government over this matter and firmly rejected the claim.
India has fully supported Bhutan’s stand but the Indian establishment is now convinced that China’s real target is not Bhutan but India’s infrastructure development in Arunachal Pradesh.
The controversy has renewed focus on India’s road construction along the China border, which has seen a sharp rise since 2013. This was when there were successive intrusions by the Chinese in the Depsang plains (April 2013), in Chumar (September 2014) and into Doklam in Bhutan on the border with India in 2017. It forced the previous UPA government to sanction increased spending on border roads. The BJP-led government has taken the plan forward more vigorously in the last six years, as evident in the furious road building and improvements in Arunachal Pradesh.
As the following paragraphs will reveal, India’s new thrust in improving road connectivity to the crucial sector in West Kameng has picked up pace since 2013.
The focus there was on laying new roads and highways to places like Tawang, which for historical and strategic reasons is considered sensitive. Tawang was already serviced by a Class 9 road, meaning it could take vehicles as heavy as 3 tonnes. This was the Bomdila-Dirang-Sela-Tawang road completed in 1977 and maintained since then. Currently, this highway runs all the way from Tezpur, touching Charduar, Bhalukpong, Nechiphu, Tenga and joining up at Bomdila for the final run to Tawang.
A second highway to Tawang, running 158 km from Orang to Kalaktang-Shergaon-Rupa-Tenga (OKSRT) was inaugurated in October 2016 by then Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju. This not only eases the load on the original highway but reduces accidents as Nechiphu tends to be fog-prone. Further connectivity to Tenga was established by a Class 9 road through Rupa town. Double-laning of this road began last year, which included construction of the 135-metre Gaccham Bridge to bypass Rupa town. Work on this will be completed by March 2022. In this time, four bridges have been built and eight more are under construction. Movement on the OKSRT will be seamless once double-laning is completed.
Work on double-laning of the Bomdila-Dirang-Sela-Tawang road is also under way with a new Border Roads task force raised for this purpose, and another moved into this location. Around 150 km of this road has been double-laned so far despite a limited working season, shortage of local resources and land acquisition issues. Work is expected to be completed by December next year.
The BRO has been able to tap into advances made in road construction methodology and techniques including metallurgy and construction material. It has resulted in faster construction, better quality and longer lasting surfaces. Various technologies are now available to prevent/arrest landslides, rock falls and debris flows that pose huge problems in terms of maintenance of roads.
Considering the limited working season, heavy rainfall and snow, the weak strata in this strategic portion of the Himalayas, the BRO’s Project Vartak has adopted technologies to speed up work, mitigate landslides, incorporate measure for slope protection, containment of rock falls and providing strength to road stretches deemed weak. Some of the new technologies being incorporated include:
Cementitious base for surfacing work: The use of chemical binder additive and cement along with local material reduces the requirement of aggregates that are not available locally. The technology is applied mechanically, thus expediting the process and ensuring work continues even during the monsoon. Using this technology, a 10-km stretch of the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang road has been completed with two more sections under the Bomdila bypass (11 km) and Jung bypass (5 km) under construction.
Slope restoration/protection: Such work on the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang and OSKRT roads has been resorted to since they remained unstable even post completion of construction.
Use of Geo Cells/Grids, Geo Synthetics: These improve the overall stiffness of surfaces, prevent lateral spreading of the base, increase the confinement and improve vertical stress distribution.
Sela Tunnel: In order to ensure seamless movement to Tawang even during peak winter or monsoon, it was decided in 2016 to carry out a feasibility study of a tunnel under the Sela Pass. The study was completed and approval was given for two tunnels covering a total distance of 12.04 km. Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone of the tunnel in February last year. The tunnel is expected to be ready by March 2022. It is designed for traffic to move at 50 km an hour and will be all-weather, enabling reduction in travel time to Tawang by one hour. The strategic advantages for the Indian Army are obvious.
Nechiphu Tunnel: As mentioned earlier, Nechiphu is accident prone, given high levels of fog that prevail from April to December. Construction of a 450-metre-long tunnel has been approved and the design work is now under way. Construction will start post monsoon, with completion by March 2022.
The clashes in Ladakh have lent new urgency to road building on the northern and eastern borders. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who reviewed all BRO projects at a meeting on Tuesday, said construction of strategic roads, bridges and tunnels in border areas will be expedited. The next act of provocation by the Chinese is not far off and they could strike anywhere. A better-funded BRO with a sharper organisational focus has been able to step up the pace of road building but it is running against time, given the inertia of the past. India has only the present to get its act together.
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