By Guru Aiyar
The regime in China has made rapid progress in infrastructure development on India’s borders and our policy of catch-up can prove disastrous
China has been actively encircling India and it is no secret that our policy is one of catch up. While the communist state of China has developed superb road infrastructure on its Southeastern border (northeastern periphery for India), we are taking incremental steps. Though recently, the Indian Air Force performed a surreal feat of landing a C-17 Globemaster aircraft in what is called an ‘Advanced Landing Ground’ at Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh. This does seem to an active step in countering China’s advanced capabilities. There is an oft repeated saying in the military that ‘amateurs talk strategy while professionals focus on logistics.’ The only way troops can be sustained is through roads as supplying by air is too expensive.
How remote is Arunachal Pradesh from the mainland India can be guessed from the fact that it takes almost three days from Bangalore to reach Tawang. The experience could be very similar if one wants to reach Tawang from Mumbai, Delhi or Chennai. The different modes of transport are flight to Guwahati, bus journey from Guwahati to Tezpur and finally, a bumpy Sumo taxi ride from Tezpur to Tawang spread across two days. The beauty of pristine hills is mind blowing. But what surprises an average traveler is the poor condition of road that gives access to Tawang. To put things in perspective, Tawang was one of the points at which the Chinese incursion took place in 1962 that led to a humiliating defeat. It is at the easternmost periphery of Arunachal Pradesh’s border with China.
Tawang is at a distance of 340 Km from Tezpur in Assam. The route is Tezpur-Bhalukpong (entry point to Arunachal)-Bomdila-Dirang-Tawang. It is mandatory to have an Inner Line Permit (ILP) before you enter Arunachal Pradesh. The road becomes very bumpy after Bhalukpong. The reason offered for not having enough bus services by state government is insufficient load factor leading to poor revenue generation and simultaneously, cartelization by Sumo/SUV taxi services.
The transporters have a vested interest in not allowing any other venture. The road is very good at some locations. For example, the drive from Tenga valley to Bomdila (a stretch of about 21 km) is very smooth. That road is comparable to the best that can be on offer. But we are talking of a distance of about 200 from Tawang. As one inches closer to Tawang, the road condition ranges from average to poor. The agency responsible for maintaining roads is the federal Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Under BRO, there is a General Engineering Reserve Force (GREF) that repairs and maintains roads all around the year. GREF seems to be an avenue for steady employment for the locals. All along the route, one can see earthmovers and heavy road equipment at work. The sectors are divided between entities called Road Construction Companies (RCCs).
Though the road construction on the Indian side seems to be taking place at a frenetic pace, it is the condition of the surface that is surprising, especially when contrasted with what China seems to have achieved. There are umpteen number of places where there is no road but only stones and sand. The tarred surface comes off pretty easily. It certainly isn’t enough to take the heavy weight of military four tonners that continuously ferry logistics to the border posts. One shudders to think what to do if there is an inadvertent vehicle breakdown. Precisely for this reason, army trucks operate in buddy pairs—so that if need be, towing assistance can be given in case of a crisis. The difference in construction is especially striking at the Bumla pass, the Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) point about 60 Km from Tawang. The pass is at an altitude of about 15,500 feet. This is accessible only in a SUV or above. This post is open for tourists in good weather condition only. Bad weather means challenging rescue operations for an already overstretched army. One can clearly see the Chinese post and an air detection radar from the telescope that army has provisioned. The route is very scenic and scattered with blue lakes that form a perfect ‘picture postcard.’
The Bumla post is not an ‘operational post’ which means it is not where Indian and Chinese soldiers stand eyeball to eyeball peering at each other through their gun foresights. It is manned by only about 50 soldiers. The operational posts are of course out of bounds for civilians. Mercifully, prefabricated tents provide decent accommodation to our troops in very inhospitable conditions. The ‘igloos’ designed indigenously maintain comfortable temperature of about 25 degree for easy living. The post is covered in snow for about 6–7 months in a year. The passage from Tawang to Bumla is a highly controlled movement and one has to cross four military check points, mandatorily produce the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and vehicle documents. The army presence is ubiquitous with sufficient lessons learned from the 1962 debacle. Presently, three mountain brigades provide the defensive bulwark against any possible mischief.
The most contrasting aspect that strikes a casual observer is the excellent road condition on the Chinese side across the border. Their generals zoom in SUVs at top speeds for border meetings. Sure, the Indian side of the terrain is far more difficult with steeper inclines that present their own challenges. Efforts seem to be on at an incremental rate. But this cannot be an excuse for not having good roads. A technologically advanced country like India can certainly do better in the 21st century. China’s encirclement of India is near complete with its efforts in Burma, Sri Lanka, Nepal and its well-known covert support to several rebel groups in the Northeastern part of India. Our infrastructure development along with activation of old air fields need to proceed at a rapid clip. We can ignore this imperative only at our own peril.
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