ITANAGAR, Jan 23: The local residents of Vijaynagar in Changlang district Wednesday did not allow an IAF helicopter to land at the Advance Landing Ground (ALG), said state Food and Civil Supply Minister Kamlung Mossang.
The local residents spread across the ALG runway of Vijaynagar to prevent landing of the helicopter to protest the IAF chopper not carrying cardamom produced by them to Miao, Mossang said quoting a former zilla parishad member from Vijaynagar who informed him about the incident.
Residents of 11 villages near Vijaynagar had on January 20 cleaned the ALG runway of the grass and moss which had grown due to non-operation by any fixed-wing aircraft since 2016.
The villagers claimed that they cleaned the ALG runway on condition that the IAF choppers which return empty to Miao from Vijaynagar would carry cardamom produced by them, the minister said.
But as the chopper did not carry any cardamom produced by them the villagers did not allowed the chopper to land in the Vijaynagar ALG, Mossang said.
The villagers said they pay Rs 150 for transportation of cardamom to Miao, the nearest town which is about 157-km away due to lack of road connectivity.
No IAF officers were available for comment.
Vijaynagar is the remotest Circle (Tehsil) of Changlang district. (PTI)
