Friends,
I
changed two plans during the day. The first was the time of departure – it
happened because I woke up early and was ready by 5 am with nothing else to do
but leave for my next destination, which was Tinsukia. I felt happy that the
formalities in ORH had been done yesterday for that gave me the freedom to
leave when I had to. I had stayed in the Maligaon ORH a few times in 2010. So I
knew my way around. Even the short cut to the Nagaon highway came back to me
easily. I took the road and got to the NH as easily as local resident would. In
fact, I surprised myself for my homing skills and sense of direction are so
poor that I often wonder how I would get to places without interacting with
people on the road! The mostly four-laned road and sparse traffic got me to
Nagaon in quick time (130 kms in two hours). Work was on in many places to
complete the four laning; which brought with it its own share of misery –
traffic would suddenly emerge on the wrong side of the road due to diversions,
which were not pre-warned.
The
drive from Guwahati to Tezu was also, in some part, a recce; the first leg of
the East-West expedition was from Tezu to Guwahati, 600+ kms. Therefore, I was
also scouting for possible attestation centers and making notes of them and the
challenging stretches. I reached Jorhat by 9.30 am – had covered 180 kms from
Nagaon in 155 minutes! The road was very good, except for the fact that the
effect of the floods last October was evident on the roads leading to and from Kaziranga.
Since I had done about half the distance to Tezu in four and half hours I
changed plans the second time in the day. I had made arrangements to halt in
Tinsukia, which was less than 200 kms away. I decided to go through to Tezu for
two reasons. One, I would have the company of a police constable from Tinsukia
and second, it would fetch me an additional day in Tezu. I informed Seju of the
decision and he welcomed it. He also mentioned that arrangements had been made
in the Circuit House to lodge me.
After
Jorhat the condition of the roads worsened, though in comparison only. It took
me a bit under four hours to reach Tinsukia, a distance of 190 kms. At Tinsukia
I arranged to meet up with Rajesh, the police constable and emissary of SP Lohit,
in front of the New Tinsukia railway station, which could serve as an
attestation point in the next few days. Rajesh and a few others piloted me in a
car to the house of Agarwal, a friend of Rajesh, through the crowded city and
more crowded lanes. There I was introduced to Sanjay Kumar Phukan, the District
Planning Officer of Tezu, who, I later learnt was an immensely influential
person in the border regions of Assam. I was also told that the situation in
the border area could change fast and without warning. To illustrate, Rajesh
told me that traffic had been blocked on the road leading to Tinsukia for some
time before I got there. Sanjay’s familiarity with the place helped them avoid
the disturbed area.
While
I was impatient to leave for Tezu, Rajesh and Sanjay showed no such priority.
They had some work to finish in Tinsukia and I wanted to be in Tezu before
nightfall. Clash of objectives, but not critical. In what seemed to me a lot
past eternity, we were ready to leave from Agarwal’s house – luggage had to be
rearranged and every nook and cranny in the car had to be utilized to find
space for two more passengers and their luggage. As we set off Sanjay started
his narration about the history, culture and developmental efforts of the
state. We stopped for lunch at an eatery aptly named “Dhaba HW37”, for it was
on the highway 37. The place gets crowded, I was told, in the evening and on
weekends. The meal was heavy and I gathered that Sanjay is a gourmet.
It
was nearing 3 pm by the time we had finished our meal and got ready for the
final stretch to Tezu. I was told that the standard timing between Tinsukia and
Tezu is four hours and, since we had covered some distance, it would take a
half hour less to our destination. There was heavy police presence on the way.
Rajesh told me that the reinforcements and additional checking were due to an
incident the previous evening. Suspected ULFA militants had lobbed a grenade
into a police station in Kakopather. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but
injuries had been many. We passed Kakopather and I afforded just a peek at the
police station. I was also told that such incidents happen as a precursor to
protests on Republic Day! I missed the ULFA camp site, a short distance from
the border to Arunachal Pradesh.
Within
a half hour into Arunachal Pradesh, through the Digaru gate, roads worsened
considerably. Progress had to be carefully measured. I was worried for the
tyres of the car. It had seen plenty of action in the past two weeks. Nurturing
it, I took the roads slower than my companions may have liked. The distance
from Tinsukia to Tezu is about 120 kms; the road condition makes it look much
longer. There are two accesses to Tezu, one via the ferry and the other via the
ghats. During the rains the latter is preferred while the ferry is the
preferred option during the dry months. The decision point is Chongkham, where
the fork takes you one way or the other. We settled on the ferry route, with me
intent on preservation rather than adventure.
After
some time I was directed to drive on a non-existent road, with Rajesh and
Sanjay, the latter more than the former, unsure if it was the right one. I was
driving on the bed of the Brahmaputra River. It was dark and the stones of the
river bed, some pointed and some round, made driving stressful. Finally we reached
the ferry. We had to wait for some time for the ferry as it was on the other
shore. I was told that the width of the ferry and the crossing locations change
with the time of the year. The ferry itself was a primitive rejig of two small
boats with a platform over them. It was not very comforting to see the boatmen
bailing water out of the boats. However, the deed had to be done, and there was
no alternative at this point. While waiting for the ferry a foreigner came up
and introduced himself as Calvin, an American based in New York. His wife was a
Tibetan, whose mother was staying in the Tibetan settlement in Tezu. He claimed
to have worked closely with the government in Delhi for the CNG introduction
and a few other initiatives. He recounted many of his experiences of dealing
with ‘babus’ and offered a swig from his hip flask, which I politely refused.
By
8 pm I reached Tezu. First I dropped off Sanjay at his house and partook of
some Assamese festival delicacies before being taken to the Circuit House by
Rajesh. There was some confusion there about the allotment of the room. The
caretaker had information that I would be checking in only on the 26th
and hence, no room was available. Rajesh, in his own incomparable style, got
the VIP room opened for my stay. It was aesthetically done up with local cane
paneling. The room, I was told, is normally kept reserved for the Chief
Minister of the State! It was, undoubtedly, the best accommodation in the whole
of Tezu.
Seju
invited me over to his house for dinner. I freshened up and took the short
drive to the house of the SP of the District. The 2007 UT cadre officer, Seju Kuruvila,
was there to warmly welcome me into his home. I was meeting him for the first
time, but it seemed I had known him for some time. Such was the warmth he
exuded. He made me feel completely at ease. The discussions gathered various
hues and it was fascinating to know about the development of the state. Seju’s
wife, Meghna, is the SP of the adjoining district of Anjaw. Both were batch mates
in the Academy and belong to the UT cadre. Arunachal is considered to be hard
area posting. It was interesting to know that the tenures have been
scientifically worked out. Dinner consisted of chicken curry and chappatis. It
was decided that I would visit Wakro and Parasuram Kund tomorrow in the company
of Rajesh, who was attached to me during my stay in Tezu.
Before
hitting the sack I tried to recollect the information I had gathered about
Arunachal Pradesh (the land of the Rising Sun) from various sources during the
day. The number of districts in the state has gone up from 5 to 17 in the past
few years and it is expected to go up to 21 shortly. There is virtually no
opposition party in Arunachal – all the MLAs belonged to one party; if they
wished to switch sides they would do so en bloc, as had happened in the past!
This effectively closed options for the citizens. Their power was unchallenged.
Corruption is rampant and extortion is common. Easy money is had through compensation
paid by project executors – land being commonly held without any land records, it
was easy to lay claim to territory. Diversion of Central funds, without even
spending half of it, is common knowledge and is most often the start point of
extortionist demands. It is said that an MLA circulated a ‘feedback’ list in
which the people in his constituency were asked to provide their ‘wish list’ of
items they needed – from liquor to household items. Once the wish lists were
gathered the items were distributed at a function organised by the MLA, at the
end of which each household was also given two blankets! It is said that he did
this as compensation for not visiting the constituency during the floods in
October! The major tribes are Nishi, Adi, Apatani and Mishmi, Chakma, Monpa and
Wancho. The major religions are Hinduism and Donyi Poloism (animist), which
constitute 65% of the population. Christians and Buddhists add up to 32%. Literacy
is around 67%; institutions for higher education are sparse. The population of
the state is only about 14 lakhs (Kerala 334 lakhs) – Lohit has 1.5 lakhs
population and Anjaw 25,000! The density of population is only 17 per sq km as
compared to 860 in Kerala!
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