CM Pema Khandu hails 72-ft Tiranga at Sela Tunnel portal
Synopsis
On Independence Day eve 2026, a 72-foot Monumental Tiranga was raised at the Sela Tunnel portal at 13,000 feet in Arunachal Pradesh by BRO's Project Vartak and the local community. Chief Minister Pema Khandu hailed it as a symbol of national pride at one of India's most strategic border infrastructure sites.
Key Takeaways
A 72-foot Monumental Tiranga was installed at the Sela Tunnel portal in Arunachal Pradesh at an altitude of 13,000 feet .
42 BRTF , Project Vartak , the Border Roads Organisation , and the local community jointly executed the installation.
CM Pema Khandu praised the effort on 14 August 2026 , the eve of Independence Day.
The Sela Tunnel provides all-weather road connectivity to Tawang , a strategically critical district along the Line of Actual Control.
The installation is part of the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, first launched in 2022 under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
At 13,000 feet above sea level, where the air is thin and the terrain unforgiving, a 72-foot Monumental Tiranga now stands at the portal of the iconic Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh — and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu wants the country to notice.
Khandu took to X on 14 August 2026, the eve of Independence Day, to salute the effort — calling the tricolour installation 'a magnificent symbol of national pride, unity and our unbreakable bond with the Nation.' He credited 42 BRTF, Project Vartak, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), and the local community for making it happen.
Why Sela Tunnel makes this flag matter more
The Sela Tunnel is not just any infrastructure project. Carved through the Sela Pass in western Arunachal Pradesh, it was designed to deliver all-weather road connectivity toward Tawang — a district of immense strategic weight along the Line of Actual Control with China. For decades, Sela Pass would snow-block the only road to Tawang for months at a stretch. The tunnel changed that calculus. Planting a 72-foot national flag at its portal is a statement as much as a ceremony.
Project Vartak, the BRO formation responsible for roads in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, led the installation. The BRO operates under the Ministry of Defence and has been the engine behind India's accelerated push to build and maintain strategic roads in its most sensitive border zones.
Tiranga Yatra meets the border frontier
The installation slots into the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, launched nationally in 2022 as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to mark 75 years of Indian independence. The campaign called on citizens and institutions to hoist the tricolour at homes and public sites. Raising it at a high-altitude tunnel portal — at the edge of contested territory — gives the initiative a sharper edge than a flag on a suburban rooftop. It fuses symbolic national integration with the hard geography of border security.
India has made BRO construction in Arunachal Pradesh a strategic priority, combining road and tunnel completions with visible acts of national assertion. The Sela Tunnel flag is the latest in that pattern — concrete infrastructure meeting the politics of presence.
As Arunachal Pradesh marks Independence Day 2026, the tricolour at 13,000 feet is not just flying. It is making a point.
Point of View
Publicly crediting BRO and the local community together reinforces a dual narrative: Delhi's defence investment and grassroots patriotism as a unified story. The timing on Independence Day eve amplifies both.
NationPress
14 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the 72-foot Tiranga installed in Arunachal Pradesh?
The 72-foot Monumental Tiranga has been installed at the portal of the Sela Tunnel near Sela Pass in Arunachal Pradesh, at an altitude of 13,000 feet .
Who installed the Tiranga at Sela Tunnel?
42 BRTF and Project Vartak of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) , along with the local community, installed the flag at the Sela Tunnel portal.
What is the Sela Tunnel and why is it important?
The Sela Tunnel is a high-altitude strategic tunnel near Sela Pass in Arunachal Pradesh that provides all-weather road connectivity to Tawang , a district of critical importance along the Line of Actual Control with China.
What is the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign?
Har Ghar Tiranga is a national campaign launched in 2022 as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to encourage citizens and institutions to hoist the Indian tricolour at homes and public sites to mark 75 years of independence.
What did CM Pema Khandu say about the Sela Tunnel flag?
CM Pema Khandu called the 72-foot Tiranga 'a magnificent symbol of national pride, unity and our unbreakable bond with the Nation,' and congratulated BRO's Project Vartak and the local community for the installation.
