ITANAGAR, Jan 23: The second edition of the three-day Papum Poma River Festival (PPRF) 2020 began today on the banks of the pristine Papum river in Ramghat under the Taraso Circle of Papum Pare district.
Organized on the theme “Save Nature, Save Our Future”, the festival was inaugurated by Union Minister of State (Independent) Sports and Youth Affairs, Kiren Rijiju in presence of local MLA Tana Hali Tara. Its chief aim is to showcase and promote the eco-potential of the region for a sustainable source of income generation. 
Rijiju, who was also the Chief Guest said that apart from diverse cultures and tourism potential, Arunachal is blessed with abundant natural resources that can place it in the most developed state category provided they are utilized in full capacity. He said organizing such festivals would help in harnessing the true potential of the state as well as attract tourists which would help in generating more employment and bring improvement in the entire socio-economic sector. 
Speaking on promotion of sports activities among youths of the state, the Union MoS while informing about the upcoming Centre of Excellence for Boxing, Wushu and Weightlifting in the state capital said such Centre will help the state’s youths in developing sporting skills, making them prepared for competing at Olympic levels. He also distributed sports items to the festival organizing committee. 
Appreciating the intention of the PPRF committee, Rijiju underlined that the Ramghat venue has the potential to become a major tourist destination as it is not far from Itanagar and also very close to Assam. He further opined the festival will not only boost conservation efforts, but also strengthen relationship between the people of the two states. 
Regarding the sit-in protest by NIT students demanding permanent college infrastructure and other facilities, Rijiju said he had already spoken to the Union Minister for Human Resource Development and informed about the students’ problems.
Local MLA Tana Hali Tara thanked the Minister of Handloom, Textile and Sericulture, Government of Assam, Ranjit Dutta and his team for their presence and  called for maintaining age old Arunachal-Assam ties of brotherhood, peace and harmony. 
Festival Organising Chairman John Panye also spoke on the occasion.  Gohpur MLA Utpal Bora, Papum Pare DC Pige Ligu, SP Jimmy Chiram, HoDs from both states, public leaders, GBs and general public were present on the occasion.
Adventure sports activities like water rafting, angling, zip-lining, rappelling, hot air balloon, hiking, camping, traditional sports and live performances by local artists and display of local cuisines from Arunachal and Assam were the main attractions of the day. With DIPRO inputs

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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