SAGALEE, 1 Oct: Ngurang Takio of Sagalee was declared the winner of the ‘Open Angling Tournament-2021’ organized at Rate Chungki and Rach Tabio near here in Papum Pare district on Thursday by the Rach-Tabio Panchayat Youth Welfare Association (RTPYWA).
Takio caught the trophy catch, a chocolate mahseer weighing 1.46 kg, and bagged a cash prize of Rs 20,000 along with a trophy, angling gear and certificate.
The second prize went to Nabam Tatung, who caught a 1.2 kg chocolate mahseer. He won Rs 10,000 along with angling gear, trophy and certificate.
Tenzing Dorjee and Ngurang Agung shared the third prize and won angling gear and certificates.
The ‘highest catch’ title went to Tarh Rekam, who caught 13 fish. Impressed by the “excellent work” of the organizing youths, Rekam donated his cash prize of Rs 5,000 and angling gear to them.
While opening the tournament, former chief minister and Sagalee MLA Nabam Tuki urged the public not to pollute the river by constructing toilets near it. He said the government is providing all the requirements for proper toilets. He also urged the public not to litter the river with plastic materials and keep it clean to promote tourism through angling festivals, thereby generating income for unemployed youths of the area.
Arunachal Anglers Forum (AAF) chairman Bengia Tayu and Sagalee ZPM Techi Serbang gave away the prizes to the winners.
Tayu urged the RTPYWA members to preserve the river and ban all sorts of illegal fishing. He advocated making the angling festival a calendar event, and said that the AAF would provide technical support in this regard.
Serbang promised to provide all help from his end to make the festival a grander event next year.
Fifty-two anglers participated and hooked as many as 76 fish in the daylong tournament.
