ITANAGAR, May 28: Apart from 1894 Anglo-Abor War at Yapgo, Dambuk is known
today for its backwardness. A small Sub-Divisional Headquarter located in
Lower Dibang Valley District with a meager population of 4014 as per 2001
Census, it is the place where the second Primary School of the State was
established way back in the year 1946 at erstwhile Tapat village after the one
at Pasighat.
But picture today is quite gloomy as
the area remains cut-off from rest of the world for 8 months at a stretch
beginning from March to October every year as it is surrounded by mighty Dibang
in the East, Sissiri (locally known as Sisar) in the west and south. Even the
country boat services are discontinued during the period as it becomes too
risky.
The discontinuation of the Pawan Hans
helicopter service, only mode of transportation during rainy seasons, among
others, have made the lives of the people more miserable and further pushed them
back. The people of Dambuk have not been able to witness and enjoy the
facilities and development fruits unlike other parts of the state even in this
fast changing world. When one thinks of moving out from Dambuk, the voyage is
same as experienced during 1970s; ride on the back of elephant, walks for miles
on the sandy rivers on sunny days and get fully wet by crossing the rivers.
Apart from the patients, the worst sufferers are the students seeking admission
in various colleges.
One has to either cross Sissiri river
by riding on an elephants, risking their lives or cross the rivulet of Dibang
River on foot and literally putting up their hands in order to safegaurd their
certificates and clothes from getting wet.
Even those seeking certificates and
others documents have to take the trouble of crossing rivers and wasting time,
money and energy at Roing, the district headquarters because of bad road
communication. And there is no guarantee of early return as there are always
chances of getting stuck in the district headquarter as the Dibang Ghat the only
route from Dambuk to Roing remains closed when there is heavy rains fall.
All these hardships could have been
minimized if present SDO Headquarter is upgraded to Independent ADC Hqs as
genuinely demanded by the people since long.
Besides this communication bottleneck,
Dambuk town and its nearby hamlets are often threatened by the Sine River every
year which flows just 1 km west of the township. This river has already created
havoc and fear among the minds of the people by flooding the erstwhile Poblung
and Tapat (Patbuk) villages during 1986-87 besides inundating many
cultivable lands. Another river, Sisiri flowing some 7 km west of the township
has already inundated some portion of Wet Rice Cultivated Land at Ibrom during
2009 and rest of the WRC fields are in danger of being washed away.
Not everything is going right for the
people of Dambuk Sub-Division. Even many infrastructure development
activities, especially related to roads and electricity, are in shambles. The
construction of two major permanent RCC bridges on Sissiri River, one at Dambuk
to Paglam road at 19km point by M/s SOMA Enterprise under PWD and another at
Zero Point connecting Dambuk to Pasighat via Aohali-Mebo road by M/s
Singhla Enterprise under GREF which is progressing at a snail pace is a matter
of grave concern too. The completion period for permanent bridge over Sissiri
along Dambuk-Paglam road has already expired on March 2012 but even the
constructions of pillars/posts are yet to be completed.
The story of other one at Zero Point is
not much better. The under construction PWD road from Bizari to Paglam is also
facing many hurdles as many contractors left the bridge incomplete and the black
topping works of the road has stopped due to case between some firms.
Construction of Power Tower from Mebo to Dambuk via Aohali for drawing
electricity supply of 33KV Power Line from the Ranganadi Power Grid from
Pasighat is stuck in the tendering process itself, as the case is awaiting a
court verdict.
Three electric poles for drawing 33 KV
line from Meka to Dambuk by Indo Power Project Ltd that was slated to be
commissioned on last week of April was washed away by Dibang river few days
back. In the last 40 years, the power supply has remained the same; two hours
daily in Dambuk township.
However, despite all these odds, there
are few things that people of Dambuk can boast about. More than 100 families are
orange growers, which is a major source of livelihood. Though faced with
difficulties like communication bottle neck, lack of proper roads to the
orchards, little technical know-how by the growers and improper marketing,
people of the area have taken up orange on a large-scale.
November to February is a busy season
as it is the only time of the year when the roads are open. Almost every work is
carried out during these months.
A visitor, who comes to this place
during winter, will never be able to gauge the difficulties faced by the people.