Flights Of Fantasy
[ M Panging Pao ]
The last few months/years saw Arunachal Pradesh accomplishing many critical milestones. Most of these critical milestones have been achieved in the field of education and infrastructure.
In the education sector, the major milestone is the commencement of the first medical college of the state, Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) from this academic session. The inauguration of the much-awaited medical college in Arunachal Pradesh will allow specialist medical care in our remote state and open up vacancies for more Arunachali students to become doctors. In the long run, this will reduce the dependency on Assam/NEIGRIHMS and Delhi/Chennai etc for medical treatment of Arunachali patients. A medical college was planned in Pasighat about 15-20 years ago, but was shelved due to local politics.
The other major achievement is the planned commencement of the first Sainik School of Arunachal Pradesh at Niglok near Pasighat from 27 August, 2018. The much touted and much awaited Sainik School will allow Arunachali students to get quality education under discipline and military training. The Sainik School will allow many Arunachali students to become military pilots, army and naval officers.
The other major milestones include the re-commencement of commercial flights from Pasighat. This is enabling commuters from nearby areas to fly directly to Guwahati/Kolkata; mitigating the irritating Assam bandhs.
The other major achievements are the inauguration of India’s longest bridge, the 9.15 km Sadiya Bridge connecting Dibrugarh/Tinsukia to Roing/Tezu and the 6.5 km bridge connecting Roing and Dambuk. The bridge connecting Roing and Dambuk is a lifeline to citizens of Dambuk area which was always cut off from the rest of the state during summer months.
There are few more critical milestones planned to be inaugurated in the next few months/years. These include the much delayed Bogibeel Bridge connecting Dibrugarh with northern bank areas like, Pasighat, Aalo, Daporijo etc; the commissioning of 110 MW Pare and 600 MW Kameng Hydro Power projects.
The mega project consisting of the 2000 MW Subansiri Hydro Power Project is also almost complete. If the governments of Arunachal and Assam resolve few pending issues, this dam will make entire North East self sufficient in power generation and power availability. Other important pending milestones include re-commencement of commercial flights from Tezu, Ziro and Mechukha.
With the present state and central governments pushing forward the development agenda, it is likely that these pending critical milestones will be accomplished at an early date. Similar push is required in the industries and health sectors also. These critical infrastructure and educational milestones will trigger economic development in the state; give a fillip to tourism and thus generate gainful employment for the youth of the state. At this rate, the day is not far when the new slogan is ‘Arunachal Shining’! (The contributor is retired Group Captain, Indian Air Force)
