Arunachal CM calls for halting rampant earth cutting in Itanagar, Naharlagun

Guwahati: Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu on Monday expressed concern over rampant earth-cutting in the twin capital cities of Itanagar and Naharlagun advocating a change in the mindset of the citizens.

“Whenever I fly over the capital city, it pains me to see the hills being bulldozed, trees being cut all over. Why can’t we let the hills and greenery remain even while building houses?” Khandu wondered in his address during the first Foundation Day celebration of the Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) at the DK Convention Centre in Itanagar on Monday.

Khandu drew attention to the practices followed by people in other hill states like Sikkim, where they design and build houses according to the terrain without resorting to massive earth-cutting.

Khandu said people of the state capital are wasting huge amounts of money on earth-cutting only, which escalates the cost of building a residence to the maximum, sometimes beyond thought.

The other problem of rampant earth cutting, Khandu pointed is that people do it in the winter and when summer comes with its rains, sand, gravel and mud from these sites are washed down blocking drains and damaging roads.

“And then they start blaming the government,” he said and advised IMC to create awareness amongst the citizens.

Khandu informed that several developmental projects for the state capital are in the pipeline to be executed under the IMC like smart street lights and proper drainage systems in colonies. The hanging and haphazard electricity transmission lines that blot the beauty of the city will be removed and taken underground.

One major issue in the capital complex that needs urgent attention and solution, he said, is solid waste management.

“I am happy that IMC after visiting several waste management projects in other states has zeroed down on the best practices and has come up with a vision plan. Two solid waste management plants are to be developed- one for Naharlagun and one for Itanagar,” he said.

“We need to get these plants going urgently. Depending on their success, we plan to develop similar plants in the districts where waste management issue is no lesser,” Khandu said.

The chief minister further raised the problem of single-use plastic that poses a serious threat to environmental pollution globally.

“Single-use plastic needs a serious look. We plan to put in place a stringent policy in this regard and work on it. For short-term practicality we cannot endanger our future, our planet,” he said.

Reminding IMC of its role in the development of the capital complex, Khandu said, “Itanagar is our face and we must further develop the vibrant city. On behalf of the state government, I assure support and handholding to IMC in its journey towards transforming the city.

To a request by IMC for the chief minister’s intervention in resolving the issue of lack of proper coordination between IMC and government departments, he assured that he would take it up with concerned authorities.

A few other issues flagged by Khandu that IMC needs to look into include traffic congestion, parking spaces, regularization and demarcation of weekly haats, etc.

The event was also attended by MLAs Tana Hali Tara and Hayeng Mangfi, IMC Mayor Tame Phassang, Corporators, IMC officials and other guests.