Arunachal Pradesh Police finally agree to reconstruct bamboo bridge over Noa-Dihing River 

OUR CORRESPONDENT

TINSUKIA: Following widescale protest and resentment after Arunachal Pradesh (AP) police allegedly dismantled a portion of the bamboo bridge over the Noa-Dihing River on Thursday to curb movement of people during the lockdown period, the Arunachal Police — after initially denying their involvement in the act — has finally agreed to reconstruct the bridge during the post-lockdown period. The decision was announced after the Sadiya Police intervened and held a reconciliation meeting with its Arunachal counterpart at Tengapani in Tinsukia district on the Assam-Arunachal boundary on Saturday.

Tengapani, famous for citrus (Assam lemon) cultivation, was a contiguous village adjacent to Dholla and Kakopathar under Hahkhati Gaon Panchayat in the Saikhowa Development Block till river Noa-Dihing changed its course and diverted its flow between two villages — Tengapani and Thapabari — leaving in despair the entire Tengapani village having households of more than 124 families, mostly from the ethnic Moran community. They have been dependent on the Arunachal Pradesh transit route via Namsai. While the country-made boats have been the only mode of communication with the Tinsukia district mainland, during monsoon when the river is in high spate, the villagers, students and others take the diversion route via Arunachal Pradesh.

Faced by immense difficulties with no respite from any quarters, the villagers built a 490-metre-long bamboo bridge over Noa Dihing from their own resources and named it as the ‘Zubeen Garg Setu’ to honour the love and affection for the iconic singer. Zubeen Garg who was supposed to inaugurate the bridge on February 29; however he fell ill on February 28.

After the lockdown was clammed, the villagers stopped using the bridge; but Arunachal Police allegedly removed some bamboo poles, planks and structures to obstruct the movement even as the area lies within Assam territory.

The All Moran Students’ Union (AMSU) reacted sharply at this act of Arunachal Police for its non-jurisdictional intrusion and demanded rebuilding of the structure. In the bipartite meeting held on Saturday, though there was no written agreement, the Arunachal Police police should honour its commitments, observed Arunjyoti Moran, president of AMSU.

Meanwhile, in a statement to the press, the AMSU president urged Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu along with district administration of Namsai to undertake the developmental activities on the Arunachal side where a sizeable population of the Moran community is living along with other indigenous communities of Arunachal Pradesh.

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