Jamugurihat public welcomes East-West Corridor to Arunachal Pradesh

A CORRESPONDENT

JAMUGURIHAT: The proposed double-lane East-West Industrial Corridor Road, connecting the foothill districts of Seijosa in Pakke-Kessang with Bhalukpong in West Kameng of Arunachal Pradesh — without passengers having to pass through Assam — has been welcomed but, the move is also not without its detractors.

The proposed road which will pass through the heart of the Pakke Tiger Reserve (PTR) to connect both the districts has been interrupted presently due to an objection raised by an environmental activist. The construction of the 692.70 kms long road having a detailed project report having elevators and tunnels for animal passage was finally approved by the concerned departments and the state government as well.

But according to information, a person identified as Tana Jorjo Tara, an environmental activist and also some local RTI activists expressed their dissatisfaction over a particular portion of the road that will run through Pakke Tiger Reserve (PTR) before connecting Bhalukpung.

The length of the objectionable road is said to be 39 km.

With this grievance, Tana Jorjo Tara wrote a letter to the DFO of PTR and to the chief engineer of highway authority in July 2018 quoting the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) and Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. After going through the petition of the environmental activist, the authority concerned had issued an order to look for an alternative route instead of PTR. With this, the issue has become a hot topic of discussion in the neighboring state. And a central package of Rs 4000 crore has been sanctioned by the central government due to the tireless efforts made by the central minister and MP from Arunachal Pradesh Kiren Rijuji for the aforesaid project.

Amid the controversy, a public meeting was organized at General Ground, Sejusa on August 21 to seek public opinion regarding the topic. The general meeting organized by Pakke District Intelligence Forum (PDIF) was attended by a huge gathering that opposed the government decision to look for alternative routes for the said road.

The general meeting unanimously took a proposal that the locals have no objection in this regard. The general meeting was attended by the environmentalist and RTI activist Tana Jorjo Tara who later on extended his support in favour of the demand for double East-West Industrial Corridor road for the wellbeing of the entire region.

The meeting was also attended by former MLA Techi Hemu who also showed his support for construction of the road. He further added that the road should be constructed with modern technology without hampering the ecology of the state.

All the proceedings of the public meeting were conducted by Hanu Tachi, secretary of the forum while Chuma Nabam, president of Pakke District Intelligence Forum chaired it.

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