Maksam Tayeng

PASIGHAT, Apr 23: With incidents being reported that people from the Assam side are attempting to sneak into Arunachal through villages like Mer and Gadum under Namsing Circle in Mebo Sub-Division violating lockdown orders, officials of Namsing CO office and Range Officer of Sibiyamukh Range, D. Ering Wildlife Sanctuary are making an all-out effort to foil such attempts.
In connection with the suspected movement of people from Assam towards Arunachal via Siang river through ferry boats, the officials are currently stationing at the confluence of Taratamak and Siang rivers near the said villages. It is worth mentioning that the boundary along Assam-Arunachal in East Siang district is very porous making it easy for illegal infiltration.
Giving details of their efforts, Range Officer, Sibiyamukh Range Domek Koyu informed that a boat carrying 18 people was heading towards Amarpur in Assam near Mer village, but the attempt was thwarted. “We can’t allow such inter-state movement during the current lockdown as we don’t have screening devices in this remote part of the Assam-Arunachal boundary,” added Koyu.
Meanwhile, Namsing Circle Officer Khoda Lasa who has been working tirelessly to mend the porous boundaries under Mebo Sub-Division has seized a total of 14 boats. According to Lasa, these boats were used by some people via waterways which is beyond control of the Namsing Administration. Hence, after taking help of the D. Ering Wildlife Sanctuary authorities, joint efforts are now paying off, he added. Mer village Gaon Burah Vinod Perme also confirmed the successful push-back of people coming from Oiramghat to Amarpur via Arunachal. “Being a border village, we have deployed our youths to monitor illegal movements from the Assam side,” informed Perme.
It is worth mentioning that illegal movement of people takes place through the waterways in Siang river along Assam-Arunachal boundary and it is also reported that illegal Bangladeshis/Rohingyas also use this porous route through Koboghat in Assam near Arunachal boundary and work as vegetable gardeners and farmers in many part of East Siang district like Mer, Gadum, Namsing,
Jampani and also in the vicinity of Pasighat township at Tulap. It can be recalled that the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) carried out an ‘Operation Clean-Drive’ a decade ago where most of the illegal Bangladeshi migrants were driven out of the district/state. 
Pasighat township is being monitored after an unconfirmed report that Tablighi Jamat people from Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz halted for a night here before reaching Tezu in Lohit district. 

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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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