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Focus on digital infrastructure, road projects to boost development in Arunachal: CM Pema Khandu

By PTI

Itanagar, Jan 2: The Arunachal Pradesh government is focusing on strengthening digital infrastructure and construction of roads during the current calendar year to improve connectivity and boost development in the northeastern state, Chief Minister Pema Khandu said.


The authorities will emphasise on completion of two vital projects in 2022 – Tali road in Kra Daadi district and Miao-Vijaynagar in Changlang, he said.

"I have taken on the challenge to complete these two roads by 2022. The Miao-Vijaynagar road is one of the oldest projects and the work had begun when Arunachal Pradesh was a Union Territory," Khandu said in an interview with PTI. Arunachal Pradesh became a state in 1987. Noting that road connectivity remains the most challenging issue in the northeastern state, the CM said his government would ensure the early completion of the two projects.


Tali and Vijaynagar are yet to be connected by roads. Under the digital connectivity programme, various core infrastructure projects, including National Optical Fibre Network, State Wide Area Network, Supervisory Development Centre and National Knowledge Network are in progress in the state, the chief minister said. Asked about his vision for the next ten years, Khandu stated that he wants to see Arunachal as a transformed state with the highest ranking in the happiness index.

"In the next ten years, the state will witness transformation in the tourism industry and reformation in the power sector as many mega hydropower projects will be completed. There will be a sea change in communication which will, in turn, develop the agriculture and horticulture segments in the state," the CM said. The 2000-megawatt Lower Subansiri project will be completed by the 2022-23 fiscal, and a unit of 500 MW of the facility is likely to be made operational by August, he said.


"Work on the Dibang project of 2880 MW, the biggest hydropower generation facility in the country, will start soon and will be completed within eight years," he said. The government has also planned eight power projects with a total of 11,000 MW installed capacity and is in talks with Public Sector Undertakings such as NHPC Ltd, North Eastern Electric Power Corporation, NTPC Ltd, THDC India and SJVNL, Khandu said.


Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, who is in charge of the power and hydropower department, had on December 29 convened a meeting with officials of major energy giants in New Delhi to prepare a road map to develop such projects in the state. During the interaction with Mein, SJVN chairman and managing director N L Sharma said the company would invest Rs 60,000 crore to harness 5,097 MW of hydropower in Arunachal Pradesh. These plants - 3,097-MW Etalin Hydroelectric Project, Attunli HEP (680 MW), Emini HEP (500 MW), Amulin HEP (420 MW) and Mihumdon HEP (400 MW) - will be located in the Dibang basin of the state.


To another question about the sustainable exploration of shale oil in the state, the chief minister said his government has already requested the Centre to carry out a study to extract the resource.


"Shale oil is under Schedule I, which comes under the Centre's domain," he said. Oil shales are usually fine-grained sedimentary rocks containing a large amount of organic matter from which a significant volume of the hydrocarbon resource and combustible gas can be extracted by destructive distillation.

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