‘Efforts needed for safety of border’

Itanagar:  Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki on Thursday called for synergic efforts by the state, Centre and security forces to ensure the safety of the border and the people living there.
After taking stock of the ground realities and the harsh living condition in most of the border areas he visited in the last two years, Tuki said that he had apprised the defence and home ministers of the need for quick development of minimum basic necessities along the border.
He said that the people in these areas were living in the harshest conditions devoid of basic necessities of life and the Army and para-military forces, like ITBP, Assam Rifles and SSB were manning the borders by managing with their limited resources.
He said that the state government has attached top priority to strategic development, particularly to reverse the de-population of border areas.
Tuki was addressing the concluding function of a seminar on ‘Synergy among various agencies: Critical for development and effective border management in Arunachal Pradesh’, organised by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force here.
He highlighted the rising internal and external security threats confronting the nation vis-à-vis the planned development of the other side of the 1,080 km border in China.
Patrolling the snow-fed high altitude mountainous region was not possible without footpaths, porter tracks and suspension bridges, he said, and called for doubling the funds under the border area development programmes to meet the vast gap.
The state government and forces guarding the border should be provided with helicopters till communications developed besides surveillance facilities, Tuki said. (PTI)