The Arunachal Times - Archives

Bamboo Based Industrial Intermediates to be operational by Ind Day

Governor takes stock

ITANAGAR, July 08: The Governor visited Poma village where the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Corporation Limited is implementing a Project on Capacity Building on Production of Bamboo Based Industrial Intermediates. The Forest Corporation will formally enter into a MoU with the Poma Village Development Society before handing over the assets of the project to them. However, the Corporation will be responsible for holding the training programme.

The MoU will be signed by MD, APFCL and the Poma Village Development Society. The project should be made operational by August 15 next.

The Governor inspected the implementation of the project and appreciated the officials of the A.P. Forest Corporation Ltd. and State Forest Research Institute for their good work. He congratulated Mrs. Techi Anna, Anchal Samiti Member, Poma, Gaon Burhas and people of Poma village for getting the noble project on bamboo applications and exhorted them to extend their wholehearted cooperation to the Forest Corporation in speedy implementation of the project.

A.P. Forest Corporation Managing Director and SFRI Director G.N. Sinha briefed the Governor about the concept of the project. The Governor also addressed Poma villagers and explained the rationale of the project and also stated that he wanted to make Poma a model village in the state where all kinds of development schemes are taken up.

He also assured that he will use his good offices to provide better road connectivity to Poma village. The Governor has been keen for development of bamboo based industrial enterprises in this state. He has visited many States in the North-East and has seen good development of bamboo applications in Tripura and Nagaland.

He is of the view that this State should also develop its bamboo sector on similar lines. For this purpose, a pilot project should be started which may be copied at other places in the State.

It was in this context that Poma village near Itanagar was identified for starting a pilot project on capacity building of the Poma villagers in production of bamboo based industrial requirements which are in demand by the bamboo based industries in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Governor is of the view that the project should not be run by a government agency. He wanted the project to be run by the Poma village itself. For this purpose the idea to constitute a Poma Village Development Society was also mooted.

The project on capacity building involves training of entrepreneurs and farmers on production of bamboo industrial intermediates of different kinds which are in demand by bamboo based industries.

The trainees will also be given tool kits after acquiring necessary skills in production of various bamboo industrial intermediates like slivers and mats etc. The Poma villagers will produce bamboo based industrial intermediates in bulk which will be sold on 100% buy back guarantee basis to the Industries in Arunachal and Assam.

The buy back guarantee will be arranged by APFCL through CBTC. All profits due to sale of bamboo based industrial intermediates will go to the villagers and the society in the ratio of 90:10. This pattern of profit sharing will strengthen the society to expand the scale of the operations.

Government funds allotted to APFCL is being used to procure machinery through CBTC and necessary infrastructure of building for installing the machinery is also being put in place by APFCL through the Poma Village Development Society.

All the assets of the project will be handed over to the Poma Village Development Society which will own and maintain them through a core Committee called the Executive Committee.

The role of the Forest Corporation will be that of facilitator only and not as a permanent implementing agency of the project. The Forest Corporation will slowly remove itself from the scene after the Society takes over the project.

Poma project Nodal Officer Gumtum Rime, Dooda Ete and Asia Moyong of the Forest Corporation discussed the finer details of the project and received his guidance.

PCCF and Principal Secretary (Environment & Forests) D.V. Negi and Techi Anna thanked the Governor for taking pains to visit the project site in Poma village.

Papum Pare ADC and EAC, Banderdewa Forest Division DFO T Sira and officials of various government departments also accompanied the Governor.

Protest continues against Dibang project

Scrap mega project and declare Diang as Ecologically Sensitive Zone: AIMSU

ITANAGAR, July 8: In a letter to the Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh, All Idu Mishmi Students Union called for scrapping of all proposed mega hydro power projects including the 3000 MW DMP in Dibang Valley; and demanded declaration of Dibang Valley as Ecologically Sensitive Zone according to the provisions under Section 3 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986.

Calling for cancellation of the public hearing scheduled for July 29, it said ‘we are surprised to see that another public hearing for 3,000 MW DMP has been notified for July 29, to be held in Roing. We are yet to understand why there is a renewed effort to hold another round of public hearings when the earlier hearings had to be cancelled and the people of Dibang Valley do not want any mega hydro power projects, said the letter signed by Tone Mickrow General Secretary All Idu Mishmi Students Union.

9 public hearings in the project affected area were notified during the last two years. All the public hearings were to be cancelled due to severe opposition from the local people and the affected villagers.

The first public hearing for the project in Roing in lower Dibang Valley was notified in May 2007 where majority of those attended the public hearing voiced their opposition to the project and the impacts, the EIA and the EMP of the project were discussed threadbare. The hearing went on for more than 10 hours, it said!

It has been repeatedly communicated to the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh and other authorities that the Idu Mishmi people of Dibang Valley do not want mega hydro projects on their land including the 3000 MW DMP. Still, the efforts continued and our voices remained unheard, our letters remained unanswered, they added in the letter.

On March this year, the students Union had written to the Prime Minister urging him to declare Dibang Valley as Ecologically Sensitive Zone citing reasons in a 17 page note. Predictably they are still awaiting response from the Prime minister’s office.

RKM terms allegations baseless, Organisations rally behind hospital

ITANAGAR July 08: The allegations raised against Ramakrishna Mission Hospital are absolutely baseless and false said R K Mission Hospital secretary Swami Viswathananda.

Since its inception in the year 1979 it has been serving the people of Arunachal Pradesh selflessly, he said and added that huge amount of money is spent in giving free and concessionary services at every level. The records of such services are maintained and it can be verified at any time, he further said.

At the time of establishing the hospital the Mission was promised that it will get a 100% reimbursement of the expenses for its services from the state government in the form of grant-in-aid.

Down the years, the grant-in-aid petered to a mere 34%. In the absence of donations and financial support from other sources which service organizations like R K Mission get in other states of the country, it was decided by the managing committee of the hospital that partial charges should be levied on the services.

This was implemented but not disregarding the poor section of the population. Many of its services still remain absolutely free of any charges, the secretary said.

In 2008, when the prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh visited the state, he appreciated the selfless services of the Mission rendered to the people of the state in a public meeting and announced a corpus fund of Rs 50 crores to the hospital.

This has created a lot of confusion in the mind of the general public. He clarified that corpus fund was created in lieu of the annual grant that the Mission received from the state government.

MoU has been signed between the state government and R K Mission that hospital will run its services from the interest that is earned from the capital amount and the annual grant in aid will be stopped from the financial year 2009-2010.

The said funds will start accruing interest only from the month of August of the current financial year. Till date we not utilized a single paisa from the fund, he further added. The hospital is run by a philanthropic organization. The salaries paid to the staff are commensurate with the financial aid it was getting from the state government. Even with this constraint, the salaries have been increased to a great extent from this financial year.

We can at no time match the government’s pay scales. In spite of all odds and difficulties, the hospital is delivering its services at less cost then any other setup of this size, it said.

The money that has been spent on the hospital in all these years by the state and central governments has been well spent because the hospital has grown in its capacity and size, the secretary informed.

He further urged the public who are receiving the benefits of the hospital’s services not to be carried away by such negative criticisms done with deliberate objectives of bringing bad name to the hospital, its staffs and its cause.

Meanwhile the Nyishi Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society (NIFCS) and Arunachal Vikas Parishad (AVP) vehemently condemned the baseless allegations put forward by Arunachal Tribal Union against R K Mission Hospital without providing any authentic evidences in support of their allegations.

It is very unfortunate that the union demanded the handing over of R K Mission hospital to the government without examining the relentless and selfless services rendered by the institution for many years to the people of this state.

The services of R K Mission hospital is not restricted to the hospital premises alone but it has been conducting health camps in the remotest places of the state from time to time.

Such allegation is unfortunate and uncalled for, the organisations stated.

Volleyball tournament in Khonsa

ITANAGAR, July 8: The All Khonsa Town Catholic Welfare Association organized a village level volley- ball tournament at Nehru Stadium here on July 6- 7 in which 26 teams participated. The finals were played between Russa village and Pongchau which was won by the former 3 – 2.

The tournament was inaugurated by local MLA, Kamthok Lowang.

In his inaugural speech, Lowang asked the participants to play with true spirit of sportsmanship and lauded the organizers for their effort.

Speaking as chief guest at the valedictory programme, MLA, Wanglin Lowangdong appreciated the organizers and standard of the tournament. He said that Arunachal Pradesh has great potentials in sports and spoke glowingly about the state’s first Everester, Tapi Mra. He further said that such sporting events would go a long way in keeping the youth engaged meaningfully and assured all possible help and support from his side towards all constructive activities. The CO of 36 CRPF, Sanand Kamal, guest of honour, also spoke on the occasion.

Ganwang Aran, organizing secretary deserves all credit and praise for his singular effort in holding the tournament successfully in spite of many problems. The matches were witnessed and enjoyed by hundreds of sports lovers. The prizes were given away by T.Aran, EAC amidst a huge gathering. (DIPRO)

AOA urges for 5% implementation

ITANAGAR, July 08: Arunachal Olympic Association (AOA) urged the Arunachal Pradesh department of Police to immediately implement the 5% job reservation for meritorious APST sports persons.

AOA said that the police recruitment rally held over a year back, 48 numbers of post were kept aside for recruitment of meritorious sports persons yet no sportsperson have been recruited.

Of the 48 posts, 43 are reserved for recruitment of male constables, 2 posts for women constables, 2 posts for water carriers and 1 post for cook.

The association further said that though the High Court passed a judgment that all government departments should implement the 5% job reservation as per the direct recruitment rule for meritorious APST sports persons yet various government departments have failed to comply with the Court’s verdict.

AOA further expressed hope that the concern department would recruit the meritorious APST sports persons to the said posts immediately without wasting time.

Earlier, AOA secretary general G Doke in a letter to the Sports Authority of Arunachal Pradesh chairman requested that maximum focus be given to various sports associations for augmenting and developing sports activities in the state. Doke further said that it has been observed that Sports Authority of Arunachal is not doing enough for sports development and the very purpose of establishing the said department has been lost.

AOA urged the chairman to rectify the current functioning of SAA and to find a mechanism to help out associations to give maximum focus on sports and youth development programmes.

Tawang strive towards cleanliness

ITANAGAR, July 8: In a coordination meeting held in the office chamber of the Deputy Commissioner, Tawang today, Deputy Commissioner Gamli Padu called upon the public and Head of departments to keep Tawang clean and free from Plastic materials, unused clothes, shoes, sandals. He appealed them to carry out timely cleanliness drive in their respective colonies and areas. He reminded that the Tawang town has been divided into 25 sectors each with a cleanliness drive committee comprising all government servant and public. In this regard a reporting format of cleanliness drive has also been circulated to the members of the each sector so that the involvement of each resident in cleanliness drive could be monitored by the District Administration.

The DC also appealed to have competition amongst each sector. For the best and second best sectors in maintaining cleanliness an amount of Rs. 15,000/- and Rs. 5,000/- respectively will be awarded in the ensuing Independence Day’09. To ensure the cleanliness, dustbins having slogan “USE ME” and “NO SMOKING” shall be placed in various locations in township area, he added.

In the coordination meeting, the result of class X and XII CBSE examination was also reviewed. The members present in the meeting expressed about shortage of teachers in the district as the main reason for the poor result. However, DC explained that all the Higher Secondary and Secondary schools have been asked to conduct parents and students meeting for finalizing the school activities so that the courses are covered in time and the extra classes could be arranged by the respective schools.

He informed that allotment of land in possession by departments have been approved by the Govt. Accordingly, they were asked to make provision in the AOP for payment of Land Revenue. The department which could not regularize their land within township area were also asked to regularize their lands.

During the coordination meeting, the program of the ensuing Independence Day’09 was also finalized. It was decided to organize MERA LAMA LODRE GYAMTSO FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT which will be sponsored by Pema Khandu & family. The Commandant, 38th BN, SSB, Tawang Tsering Dorjai assured to provide all kind of help during the tournament. He also assured to provide medical and veterinary aids in the remote villages.

The DC also informed that Special Summary Revision of Photo Electoral Roll will start from July 14 in all the Assembly Constitutes of the District. (DIPRO in charge)

Religion is different from culture: Raja

ITANAGAR July 08: MLA Balo Raja appreciated the people of Hong village, Ziro for preserving the rich culture and traditions while attending the Dree festival celebration at Hong.

One must remember that culture is different from religion and one must at all cost preserve one’s rich culture and identity, Raja added.

He appreciated the Apatani community for celebrating the festival in more innovative way while keeping in mind the age old traditions and culture of the community. On the occasion, he thanked the people for electing Takam Sanjoy as MP in the last parliamentary elections. Audio cassette and CD titled Anii Supung (Apatani modern songs) was released. Toppers of class X and XII examination 2009 were also felicitated on the occasion.

Other highlight of the celebration was modern and traditional dance competition, Ayu and Biisi competition, wrestling competition for Mr Hong title besides other sports.

MMDS club Siiro lifted the coveted Hong Dree Football Cup 2009 while playing the finals against Maxi Club Hong on July 5 last.

Mega health mela was also conducted by All Hong Employees’ Welfare Association Ziro, in collaboration with District Hospital Ziro on July 6.

The camp was inaugurated by the association chairman Hibu Tadi. Eye and dental ailments were also taken up in addition to general medicine.

800 patients benefited from the health mela which was attended by specialized doctors from General Hospital Naharlagun, Ramakrishna Mission Hospital Itanagar and District Hospital Ziro.

500 saplings were also distributed to mark the festival in collaboration with Hapoli Forest Division, Department of Forest and Environment.

Roing reels under acute power and water crisis

Bishnu Rana

ROING July 08: The acute power crisis continues to hit Roing Township that plunged into complete darkness for the last ten days and there is no sign of respite.

Come monsoon, the 750 KW Deopani Micro Hydel Project (DMHP) breaks down at the intake point which is highly in vulnerable state.

Every rainy season the Hydro Power (Civil) dept finds itself in tough position to fight the flood fury. Restoring the repeated breach of the intake point is a big challenge.

The 2.7 Km channel is another matter of worry as it also gets blocked with landslide at various points. The channel at some points is in such positions that it may get washed out at any time. For the last one week, we are working in sites to clear the channel and restore the intake point which is herculean task for the department says Hydro Power (Civil) Junior Engineer L Loyi.

The flash flood at Eze River triggered heavy damage at the intake point that would perhaps take two to three more days to be restored if good weather favours, he added.

Labourers from GREF, PWD, RWD, POWER, WRD, and PHED including elephant are being deployed at the breached intake point for the restoration of power and drinking water at the earliest.

MLA Laeta Umbrey led by E & M Assistant Engineer A Yadev, PHED JE P P Singh and public leaders trekked 1.5 Km distance yesterday to reach the intake point to assess and ascertain the actual gravity of damage.

Unless an estimate of huge fund flow especially for this intake points, the meager amount will simply be wastage. I cannot promise immediate solution of the crisis but in near future we are self sufficient in power as lots of project is on the pipeline under my disposal, the MLA said.

When asked for the durable and permanent solution of the intake point, the department sources reveal that Rs 3.75 crores estimate was submitted to the state government in the year 1998 for the approval but till days the fund is yet to be released.

Though the fund was approved yet it has not been sanctioned. The revised estimate was planned to extend the location of existing intake point 300 meters away in order to build a permanent structure, the sources further disclose.

However, the drinking water supply in the township is temporarily restored with the harnessing of number of seasonal tiny watercourse to meet the crisis. “The water after being collected is sent to Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and the GREF treatment tank and then finally released for the consumption which is free from any sort of water borne disease”, assures P P Singh JE (HQ) PHED.

The crisis of both power and drinking water supply in the township needs immediate solution.

Pasighat gets Gravity Pump Water Supply System

PASIGHAT, July 8: MLA Bosiram Siram inaugurated a 65000 litre capacity Gravity pump water supply system at the main market, Pasighat today.

The gravity pump is an environmentally friendly, economic and easy maintainable system that provides naturally filtered water.

MLA thanked PHED Pasighat for commissioning the system successfully to meet the water scarcity in the market area. Deputy Commissioner Onit Panyang said that 30,000 Ltrs. of water would always be reserved for firefighters. He further appealed the people to cooperate with the administration in maintaining pollution-free society and assured to carry out cleanliness drive shortly.

Earlier, EE PHED Pasighat, Er. Tamuli Takoh said that after a satisfied trial period, the system would be handed over to the Bazar Committee and necessary manpower would be deployed departmentally for its future maintenance.

Beside the inaugural function, MLA, DC, HoDs and senior citizens participated in a plantation program organized by forest department. DIPRO.

DGP Mehra’sappointment hailed

ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women (APSCW) while hailing the appointment of the Vimla Mehra as Director General of Police said that it looks forward to an era of women empowerment under her guidance.

APSCW is struggling to establish gender equality amongst the tribes of the state and citizens from all over India residing within the boundaries of this border state since its establishment in 2005 and the presence of an authority who has headed the Crime Against Women Cell (CAWC) of the country’s capital is a heart warming and positive signal for Arunachal Pradesh, it said.

DC initiates step for fair delivery of PDS

YINGKIONG: Pawan Kumar Sain, Deputy Commissioner, Upper Siang along with monitoring Committee and Police made surprise checking of the Fair Price Shops in and around the township of Yingkiong today.

The stock registers and the PDS items distributed by the FPS were checked and where ever any discrepancies were found the FPS holders were warned. They were warned that in future if any discrepancies are found, the licenses will be cancelled.

They were also instructed to carry out their business in orderly and transparent way so that the real needy people are not deprived.

They also raided some buildings where sugars and rice were being sold authorized and seized 75 bags of rice and 288 kgs of sugar.

The Deputy Commissioner, instructed all the outpost administrative officers to personally carry out checking and verifications. (DIPRO)

Bank Day

ITANAGAR, Jul 08: SBI Seijosa felicitated the rank holders of AISSCE and AISSE’09 of Government Higher Secondary School, Seijosa on the occasion of Bank Day on July 1 last.

Altogether, nine students of different streams were felicitated.

Principal’s farewell

ITANAGAR, Jul 08: Staff and students of Government higher secondary school, Seijosa bade farewell to its principal KR Azmi on July 3 last.

Speaking on the occasion SDO Kento Riba and In-charge Principal T Ete congratulated him for successfully completing the service tenure and thanked him for his sincere and dedicated service rendered to the people of the state.