Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: The ambitious Indo-Bhutan Border Road Project is officially dead. Assam state officials confirmed the collapse of the initiative in the Legislative Assembly on July 27. The Ministry of Home Affairs killed the project by rejecting every alignment plan the state provided.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma addressed the failure while answering Assembly Question 378. He oversees the Public Works Department, which kicked off the planning process back in 2017. The state hired Mumbai-based Wadia Techno Engineering Services Ltd. to build the Detailed Project Report. Everything stopped.
Assam officials claim they followed all protocols. They conducted aerial LiDAR surveys and worked with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. They also coordinated with the Wildlife Institute of India and the National Board for Wildlife to clear regulatory hurdles. Despite this, the central government refused to move forward.
Years of gridlock proved fatal. The state and the Centre failed to find common ground for four years, leaving the project in limbo. The government officially foreclosed the work on July 31, 2020. By June 2022, the state returned all unspent funds to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The road was meant to boost socio-economic growth, improve border security, and connect remote areas along the Indo-Bhutan border. When asked if the state will bring the project back to life, the Chief Minister said, "the decision now rests with the Ministry of Home Affairs."
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