ITANAGAR, 21 Nov: The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) strongly condemned the “repeated incursions and illegalities” committed by the forest and police officials of Assam inside Arunachal Pradesh and said, “Yesterday’s incident of the DFO Lakhimpur (Assam) carrying out an illegal survey inside Kimin subdivision should serve as an eye-opener for the state government.”
Referring to news reports, the union said “it is clear that the forest officials along with Powergrid officers were illegally carrying out a survey inside Kimin subdivision for the transmission line. If that was indeed the case, why is the state government allowing the Powergrid and other central agencies to carry out surveys and other activities inside Arunachal Pradesh through the government of Assam? Any central projects inside Arunachal Pradesh should be undertaken through the state government and not through the Assam government.”
The AAPSU said it has also received reports from locals of Changlang, according to which, it said, “the forest department of Assam, through an order issued by the divisional forest officer, Digboi division, dated 20/09/2021, has been carrying out illegal surveys and other activities in Changlang district for a proposed reserved forest under the division inside Arunachal Pradesh.
“While this said notification has been issued in the context of Assam, their entire activities are being carried out inside Arunachal Pradesh, right under the nose of the state forest department and the Changlang district administration,” it said.
Stating that the union desires peace and tranquillity along the interstate boundaries and cessation of all forms of illegalities by the Assam government, the AAPSU asked the state government to “strongly take up the matter with its Assam counterpart and the union government.”
“The continued deafening silence maintained by the state government on the interstate boundary imbroglio is perplexing. The much hyped out-of-court settlement by the chief minister needs to be revisited with such frequent and recurring action,” the union said.
Further, the AAPSU reiterated its demand for immediate posting of police and paramilitary personnel along the major friction points of the interstate boundary as a stop-gap arrangement until a solution is arrived at.
