By Sujit Chakraborty
Over seven decades after India’s independence, the first-ever passenger bus service was flagged off on Friday in the Roing-Anini route in Arunachal Pradesh’s Dibang Valley district along the China border, officials said.
The passenger bus service on the 233-km-long route was flagged off by ruling Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Mopi Mihu, and will connect the north and northeastern part of the border state.
A mini passenger bus of the Arunachal Pradesh State Transport Service would ply thrice a week between border village Roing and district headquarters Anini, he said.
“The bus service was a long awaited demand of the local people of the remote areas. It would greatly facilitate the local people to come to the district headquarters, then to the state capital. From Anini, Itanagar is more than 700 km,” Mihu told IANS over phone from Anini, the district headquarters of Dibang Valley District.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu, in a social media post, said : “Sea of change visible under PM Narendra Modi Ji. First time in 73 years of India’s Independence, a government passenger bus has reached #Anini #Dibang Valley near Indo-Tibet (China) border.”
He said that the bus service was made possible as smooth two-lane highway reaches the remote border district.
Largest among Arunachal Pradesh’s 25 districts with the lowest density (one person per square km) of population in India, Dibang Valley district came into existence on June 1, 1980 with its headquarter at Anini, after being carved out from Lohit District.
With a population of only 8,004 (2011 census), it is named after River Dibang consisting of the Dri, Mathun and Talon and three other smaller rivers — Ahi, Awa and Emra. Dibang Valley, whose north and northeast areas falls along the China border, consists of rugged undulating mountains with breath-taking green valleys, deep-down gorges, enchanting waterfalls, natural lakes of various dimensions and innumerable meandering rivers and turbulent streams.
(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)
