Vital bridge over Sisar river connecting remote districts in State near completion
Our Correspondent
Itanagar: Much to the delight of the people of eastern and western parts of Arunachal Pradesh, the Sisar (Sisiri) bridge over Sisar river – the lifeline of both East Siang and Lower Dibang Valley districts along National Highway-52, which couldn’t see the light of the day despite the passage of over a decade is finally almost ready with its both ends nearing completion as middle portion has already finished earlier.
The Sisiri bridge is expected to give better connectivity within states of Arunachal Pradesh connecting western and central parts of Arunachal Pradesh like Itanagar, Pasighat with eastern sections of the state like Roing, Tezu, Namsai, etc., without touching Assam, which happened to be a mandatory for people of Arunachal to take Assam roads to travel/reach within Arunachal’s towns and villages.
During December 2017, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein had inspected the sites of bridge at Sisiri/Sisar from Aohali village under Mebo sub-division along NH-52 (East Siang portion), which is a part of the Trans-Arunachal Highway. During his visit, Mein had asked the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation’s General Manager Vivek Srivastav to expedite the construction work.
However, even after the passing of a full year the bridge is only nearing completion now.
After a wait of over 10 years the bridge is finally nearing completion which will be a huge respite for people of eastern and western Arunachal Pradesh as citizens of this border state have been facing communication problem during monsoon season every year.
The distance which could be covered within 2-3 hours from state’s first ‘smart city’ Pasighat to Roing and Tezu (two other important towns of eastern Arunachal) during fair season, it takes almost 6-7 hours travelling via Amarpur, Chapakhowa, Sadiya etc in Assam as there has several stretches of rivers and need ferrying, which also involves huge expenses.
From a strategic point of view, the Sisiri bridge once completed will also boost the movement of the soldiers deployed at Kibithu sector under Anjaw district, sharing international border with China.
The military establishments in middle Arunachal’s East Siang district like Rayang and Sigar military stations, Tuting military station in Upper Siang district will be able to move with ease and on time in case of national emergency.
Also read: Arunachal news
