Longest suspension bridge near China border

The country’s longest single-lane steel cable suspension bridge, over the Siang river close to Sino-Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh, was inaugurated on Wednesday.

Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu inaugurated the 300-meter long bridge at Yingkiong, the headquarters of Upper Siang district, situated about 400-km from the state capital Itanagar.

The bridge, Khandu said would reduce the distance from Yingkiong to Tuting, a border town by 40-kilometres. “The bridge will benefit about 20,000 people living on both sides of the river and will also help the needs of our defence forces,” an official statement quoting the chief minister said.

It said the bridge was constructed with Rs. 48.43 crore from the Doner ministry under a non-lapsable central pool of resources.

This comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened Bogibeel bridge, the country’s longest rail-cum-road bridge over the Brahmaputra in eastern Assam, which also offered a boost of connectivity for defence forces in Arunachal Pradesh. The bridge reduced the road distance between Itanagar and Dibrugarh in Assam by 700-km.

The statement said the Centre had sanctioned Rs. 3,800 crore for 268 road projects for Arunachal Pradesh under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.