ITANAGAR, Jun 4: Surface communication between Shi-Yomi and West Siang districts reportedly snapped on Wednesday night after the washing away of an RCC bridge near Yapik village on the Aalo-Mechuka road, in Shi-Yomi district.
According to sources, a rain-triggered flashflood completely washed away the Sikam Sibu bridge, disrupting surface communication between the two districts.
It is said that transportation of people and essential commodities to remote Shi-Yomi would be badly affected as it is likely to take days to restore the bridge. Commuters travelling from Mechuka to Aalo and vice versa were also reportedly left stranded.
Expressing serious concern over the incident, Assembly Speaker Pasang D Sona on Thursday urged the Border Roads Organization (BRO) to restore the bridge on a war footing.
In a letter to the BRO chief engineer in Pasighat (East Siang), the speaker said the Aalo-Mechuka road “is the key and strategic road for movement of people, transportation of essential commodities, life-saving drugs, construction materials, and movement of defence personnel in the entire Shi-Yomi district.”
He added that, owing to the inclement weather, supply of essential items and evacuation of emergency patients through sorties would also not be possible.
“The bridge is required to be constructed on a war footing to restore the connectivity and to mitigate the problems,” Sona said, and urged the BRO CE to take immediate action to restore the connectivity in order to facilitate easy movement of men and materials, “and to tackle emergency medical situations, including Covid-19.”
