With the Vice President of India just days away from setting foot in Itanagar, the Arunachal Pradesh government is in a quiet but urgent scramble — fixing a battered highway that has seen better days.
The Arunachal Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) Highway Zone has intensified road repair and restoration work along the Hollongi-Itanagar stretch of National Highway-415, ahead of Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan’s scheduled two-day visit to Itanagar beginning September 8. Three days. That’s all the buffer they have.
PWD Chief Engineer Er C.S. Choutang, along with PWD Highways Chief Engineer Er Nani Robin and other senior officials, conducted a thorough survey of the Hollongi-Itanagar road to assess damage caused by the monsoon and extensive earth cutting along the highway. The sight, by all accounts, wasn’t pretty.
The stretch in question is no minor backroad. The approximately 20-km corridor is a crucial link between Hollongi in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh’s capital, Itanagar — and it also serves as the principal road connectivity to the Donyi Polo Airport at Hollongi. Every VIP flight that lands there, every traveller heading into the capital — they all depend on this road. So when it takes a beating, it’s felt everywhere.
And it has taken a serious beating. Heavy monsoon rainfall, landslides, earth cutting, siltation and drainage-related issues have damaged the road at several locations along the stretch. This isn’t something a few truckloads of asphalt can patch overnight.
There’s also a longer story behind the delay in permanent repairs. Chief Engineer Choutang revealed that the preparation of the Detailed Project Report, design and survey had been delayed while IIT Guwahati was serving as the consultant agency. The consultancy arrangement has since been changed, and the DPR has now been prepared, including provisions for river and drainage protection. It’s the kind of bureaucratic hiccup that costs real time on the ground — and real inconvenience to the people who use the highway every single day.
Choutang said the DPR is expected to receive sanction soon, following which comprehensive restoration work will be taken up, including repairs to deteriorated bridges and damaged sections of the highway.
For now, attention has also turned to the bridges. The department has engaged a private consultancy firm based in Itanagar to prepare designs for two important bridges located between the Hollongi Check Gate and the Airport Tri-Junction — a stretch that sees heavy movement around flight days and official visits alike.
PWD officials stated that the ongoing survey is intended to identify vulnerable sections and assess structural and drainage requirements before permanent restoration measures are initiated. In other words, the department isn’t just reacting — it’s trying to think ahead, at least for now.
There was also a pointed message for the public. Choutang appealed to residents and road users to cooperate during earth-cutting and restoration work, urging them not to dump soil, debris or other material into roadside drains or block existing drainage channels. According to the PWD, obstruction of drains can lead to water accumulation and runoff over the carriageway, increasing the risk of erosion and further damage. It’s a reminder that infrastructure maintenance isn’t just the government’s job — it takes some civic responsibility too.
The department is currently undertaking immediate repair and maintenance measures while working toward a comprehensive restoration plan for NH-415.
The Vice President will arrive, the roads will be as ready as they can be — but the real question is what happens after the convoy leaves. NH-415 has waited long enough for a permanent fix. The residents of Itanagar, and everyone who flies into Donyi Polo Airport, deserve more than emergency patchwork every time someone important comes to town.
