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ITANAGAR\/NEW DELHI, 9 Mar:<\/strong> Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday dedicated to the nation the Sela tunnel, built at an altitude of 13,000 feet, which will provide all-weather connectivity to strategically located Tawang district, and is expected to ensure better movement of troops along the frontier region.<\/p>\n The Rs 825-crore tunnel, constructed on the road connecting Assam’s Tezpur to West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, is being billed as the longest bi-lane road tunnel in the world at such an altitude.<\/p>\n The Sela tunnel will provide for better movement of troops and weaponry to various forward locations along the line of actual control (LAC) with China, according to military officials.<\/p>\n The prime minister virtually inaugurated the tunnel project during a ‘Viksit Bharat, Viksit Northeast’ programme in Itanagar.<\/p>\n In Delhi, the defence ministry said that the tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang across Sela pass on the Balipara-Chariduar-Tawang road, boosting the preparedness of the armed forces and augmenting the socioeconomic development of the border region.<\/p>\n In his address, Modi voiced the government’s unwavering commitment to the development of the Northeast region and said that the Sela tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity and improve the ease of travel for the people of Tawang.<\/p>\n Work on many tunnels is going on in the region, he added, according to a statement released by the defence ministry.<\/p>\n Modi criticised the earlier neglect of the border villages and reiterated his style of working is as per the needs of the nation and not for electoral considerations.<\/p>\n The prime minister promised the defence personnel that he would come to meet them at this engineering marvel in his next term.<\/p>\n Chief Minister Pema Khandu and union Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju were among the dignitaries present during the inauguration ceremony.<\/p>\n The Sela tunnel has been constructed using the new Austrian tunnelling method and incorporates safety features of the highest standards.<\/p>\n The project will provide a faster and more efficient transport route in the region and prove to be of strategic importance to the country, the statement read.<\/p>\n The foundation stone of the tunnel was laid by Modi on 9 February, 2019, and the construction commenced on 1 April that year.<\/p>\n The tunnel, built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), has been completed in just five years, overcoming challenges of difficult terrain and adverse weather conditions, the ministry said.<\/p>\n The BRO has always been at the forefront of the development of the border areas, the ministry said.<\/p>\n In the last three years, the BRO has completed a record 330 infrastructure projects, constructed at a cost of Rs 8,737 crore, it said. (PTI)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ITANAGAR\/NEW DELHI, 9 Mar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday dedicated to the nation the Sela tunnel, built at an altitude of 13,000 feet, which will provide all-weather connectivity to strategically located Tawang district, and is expected to ensure better movement of troops along the frontier region. The Rs 825-crore tunnel, constructed on the road […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236691,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-236679","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}