Narinso Hari, a 35-year-old farmer from the Isnia village on India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh, was a very worried man on Thursday evening. He was returning to his village in the Upper Subansiri district empty-handed from Daporijo, the district headquarters, having travelled from Isnia in Taksing circle to Daprijo for about 36 hours, on a dilapidated road, to procure essential basic provisions like grains and lentil, but failed to do so.
“All shops are closed in Daporijo,” the father of three said.
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On phone from Daporijo, Mr. Hari painted an alarming picture of Taksing, an administrative circle of about 1,320 residents (2011 Census), spread over 14 far-flung villages. Usually, Taksing’s residents come in four-wheelers once or twice a month to Daporijo to collect groceries, owing to the lack of a proper shop serving their needs in the circle.
Two-day journey
“The road between Taksing and Daporijo is bad and it takes between 24 and 48 hours to reach Daporijo. Everything has been shut for the last two weeks and I am in deep distress,” he said. Mr. Hari and his wife have three children, one of them six months old.
The condition of his neighbour, a 60-year-old woman Yajit Tarba, is worse.
“The bigger the family, the worse is the trouble. They are a family of seven, they are relatively poor, and nearly ran out of stock. Usually, we share space, food and everything in Taksing with others…but this is such a cursed time,” Mr. Hari said in a choked voice over phone. He said he was “scared” of the monsoon.
Tasi Chader, a student from Taksing, now residing in the capital Itanagar, said that the villagers fear monsoon the most.
‘No govt. officers’
“For about three to four months from May to August, Taksing is cut-off. So, this is the time when Taksing’s men come down to Daporijo to collect food for the harshest season. With shops closed and no vehicles, the people of Taksing will starve to death if the government does not intervene,” said Mr. Chader, a social activist. He added that Taksing is in deeper trouble as it is “running without government officers”.
“Most government staff are absent from their posting place in Taksing; schools are running without teachers and [teachers] are staying at Daporijo or Itanagar, receiving salary. What is even worse now is there is hardly any doctor or medicine,” Mr. Chader said.
Luve Chader, a Taksing student, said that the Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police provide some relief during the monsoon and over the rest of the year. “But now they themselves are in huge trouble, which will deepen the crisis,” Mr. Luve Chader said.
No phones
While none of the BSNL phone lines were working in Taksing, the students of the circle based in Itanagar are trying desperately to attract the government’s attention using social media, which “has not worked as yet”, they said. All three men said they were talking to media to attract the government’s attention.
“The problem is perhaps more acute in some other villages on the border,” said Tasi Chader.
The Deputy Commissioner of Upper Subansiri Kanta Danggen did not respond to calls from The Hindu.
Late on Thursday night, Mr. Hari called again from Daporijo. He said he was stranded in the headquarters town. “The vehicle that came from Taksing with a patient is broken and I am stuck here for the night and god knows for how long,” he said in despair.
