Arunachal Pradesh: BRO to bring labourers for road construction amid lockdown

The Border Roads Organisation would bring in labourers from within and outside the state for constructing roads and maintenance work near the Sino-India border amid the lockdown, BRO sources said here on Sunday.

The decision was taken following a meeting between the Arunachal Pradesh government and the BRO, they said.

Troops of India and China were involved in a fierce face-off and many of them sustained minor injuries in a clash near Naku La in the Sikkim sector along the Sino-Indo border on May 9.

Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080 kilometres long international border with China.

The state government recently issued a circular allowing central paramilitary forces and the Border Road Task Force "to bring labourers to the state for their approved activities like road construction and maintenance works", the sources in BRO's Project Arunank said.

The Project Arunank has a vital role in the development of strategic roads and in a larger perspective, the overall communication system, designed for the socio-economic development of Arunachal Pradesh.

The circular came at a time when the nationwide lockdown is in force and Arunachal Pradesh is still a green zone.

"Large numbers of labourers are expected to be brought by BRO and other central agencies into the state to resume their work in the state. These labourers are required to be camped in quarantine facilities arranged by the BRO at Kimin and Bhalukpong," the circular said.

It said the workers will stay in those camps till the result of their swab testing is known.

All deputy commissioners and district medical officers have been asked to coordinate with the BRO and CPMFs to ensure strict compliance of COVID-19 guidelines.