Flights Of Fantasy
[ M Panging Pao ]
A very warm welcome to the readers to the pleasant month of September! During this month, Northeast India witnesses the withdrawal of the monsoon, marking the herald of autumn.
The previous month was marked by good and not-so-good news. The good news included the start of the academic sessions of the state’s first Sainik School near Pasighat, and the first medical college, the TRIHMS. Other good news included allotment of the first funds of Rs 20 crore for Smart City Pasighat, and the first implant of a cardiac pacemaker in a patient at Heema Hospital, Itanagar by Dr Rinchin Dorjee Megeji.
The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure cleared projects worth more than Rs 700 crore. These include construction of tribal culture centres in all the districts; restoration of the Potin-Pangin road; completion of Komsing bridge in Pangin; CC roads in Itanagar and Naharlagun and district headquarters Tawang, Seppa, Namsai and Raga; establishing district secretariat complexes in Pasighat and Itanagar; establishment of drug de-addiction centres in Papum Pare, East Siang, Lohit, Namsai, Changlang, Tirap, Longding and Anjaw districts; constructing a directorate complex in Itanagar to house all the directorates under one campus, etc.
If implemented and executed well, these infrastructure would boost the local economy and provide employment to many local youths.
The not-so-good news included the non-appointment of a regular director at the NIT and a VC at RGU, irregular and erratic power supply in many parts of central and eastern Arunachal, and the never-ending APPSC examination controversies.
However, the worst news is about many areas of East Siang district being ravaged by contrasting calamities of a rampaging Siang river and drought conditions in the area due to deficient rainfall. The rampaging the Siang river is threatening many villages in Mebo area due to massive soil erosion by rising levels of the Siang river despite deficient rainfall. Many villages like Sigar, Borguli, Seram, Namsing and Mer are on the brink of being washed away. Many villagers are unable to sleep peacefully and many have shifted their houses to better locations.
It seems that the continuing contamination of the Siang river, originating in Tibet and China, has led to rise in the riverbed, leading to this dangerous and rampaging Siang river. If emergency protection measures are not initiated this winter, many villages along with their agricultural fields may be wiped out in the next summer season. The state government needs to act immediately.
The other interesting news was about the dismissal of all parliamentary secretaries of the state after the decision of the Itanagar bench of the Gauhati High Court. The nation also lost former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed at the age of 93.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a truly patriotic, rational, secular and wise leader. He was loved and respected by millions of Indians, and the nation needs more leaders like him.
Let me end by wishing all readers a very happy Solung. Agampe!(The contributor is retired Group Captain, Indian Air Force)