Ground Report: In This Arunachal Border Village, Modi Government's Vibrant Villages Programme Is Ensuring China Doesn't Find A Way Into Indian Territory

Tsering Panden, a resident of Mago-Chuna village that is about four kilometres away from the McMahon Line dividing India and Chinese-occupied Tibet (CoT), didn’t undertake his annual seasonal migration to the lower reaches of his state, Arunachal Pradesh, in late October this year. 

That’s because the 45-year-old herder who belongs to the Brokpa sub-tribe of the Monpas who populate the Tawang and West Kameng districts of western Arunachal Pradesh does not have to do so any longer. 

The brand new road connecting Mago-Chuna to Jang and onward to Tawang town has precluded the necessity of his annual migration to a hamlet near Dirang in West Kameng district. 

The road has made it possible to bring in LPG cylinders to Mago-Chuna. “We don’t have to rely anymore on firewood, which is sparsely available anyway, and yak dung cakes as fuel to cook and keep our huts warm,” Panden’s wife Choden Tsering told Swarajya. 

Till the road was completed in mid-November, it used to take three days of arduous trek over high mountain passes and steep gorges to reach Mago-Chuna from the nearest road at Jang. Jang, a small town on National Highway 13, is 34 kilometres east of Tawang. 

“This road has been constructed under the PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana). Nearly two years ago, I had promised the people of Mago that a road would be built from here to Jang. I monitored the progress of construction of this road very closely and in early-October this year, I inspected the three kilometre stretch where formation cutting was going on. I requested everyone to expedite construction of the road and am very happy that the road is now ready. The black-topping of the road will be completed by the middle of next week,” Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu told Swarajya. 

It now takes just under an hour to reach Mago-Chuna from Jang, which is about an hour’s drive from Tawang. 

“It’s not just LPG cylinders, everything else has been reaching us in a very short time. Till last month, we had to get fuel, foodgrains, vegetables, groceries, building materials, medical supplies and all essentials on our backs from Jang and the journey on foot would take three days,” Tashi Panden, 48, another herder and resident of Mago-Chuna village, told Swarajya. 

Kindling Dreams

“We can communicate with the rest of the outside world so easily now. The (BSNL) network was so patchy that even speaking to our relatives in Tawang and Dirang was very difficult. Communication has become so much easier now,” said Tashi Panden.

Fifteen-year-old Pema Sangey says that with a 4G network, he can now look forward to completing his studies through the distance education mode. Pema completed his primary education at the local primary school — the only educational institution here — last year. 

He is a good student and wants to study space technology.

“I have always dreamt of becoming a space scientist, but knew that was an impossible dream. I could not complete school because my family cannot afford to send me to high school in Twang or Dirang. I had resigned myself to migrating away for work as a labourer. But the road (from Jang) and the installation of the 4G tower has changed things dramatically and I can now pursue my dream,” said Pema. 

In early October this year, Pema met Union Minister of Earth Sciences, Kiren Rijiju, who was on a visit to this village along with Chief Minister Khandu and others. 

“He (Rijiju) asked me what I was doing, and I said I want to become a space scientist. He spoke to me for a few minutes and assured me of all help. He said the road and other benefits that will come to this village will open up many opportunities. He encouraged me to dream and said my dreams will surely become a reality,” recounted Pema, whose father rears yaks.

There are many others like Pema who can now look forward to completing their education and pursuing their dreams. 

One of them is Sonam Phuntshok. The 17-year-old wants to be a doctor. “Ever since I was a child, I dreamt of becoming a doctor. The army doctors who hold camps and treat us regularly have been my inspiration. But living in this remote village without roads and Internet connectivity, that dream seemed impossible. Now I can dare to dream,” he told Swarajya gleefully. 

Pem Chozom, 42, a trader who runs a small grocery store in this village, visualises a whole vista of business opportunities opening up. 

“I plan to invest my savings and maybe even take a loan to expand my business. I will open an electrical and electronics goods store selling heaters, ovens, geysers, electric blankets, mobile phones and TV sets,” Chonzom told Swarajya. 

Chonzon belongs to one of the few prosperous families of Mago-Chuna who are engaged in trading and have farmlands in the lower reaches. 

“The road (from Jang) has not only made transportation much easier and faster, but also opened up many business opportunities. The 4G network has also opened new business avenues. People will want to buy TV sets now and demand for smartphones will increase. I plan to sell these and offer instalment schemes to customers,” said Chozom. 

Tsewang Gombu, a mechanic who has a small automobile repair outlet in Jang but hails from Mago, told Swarajya that he now plans to open a vehicle service and repair centre at his native village. 

“I learnt the basics of automobile repair and maintenance from the army mechanics and then underwent apprenticeship at Dirang before setting up my own small shop at Jang. With the road to Mago now open, vehicles reaching my village in large numbers, I will open a shop here in Mago,” said the 43-year-old. 

Tourism Ppportunities

Chief Minister Khandu is aggressively advocating tourism in this region.

“Mago is beautiful and has many hot springs. Tourists should come here to experience the unique beauty of this place,” he said. 

“The new road will bring in many tourists since Mago-Chuna is unexplored and is an offbeat destination. I plan  to start with three rooms in my ancestral house and then build another cottage with two more rooms. I will start remodelling the house and constructing ensuite washrooms with the guest rooms from end-January,” he said. 

A few more families are also planning to start homestays. The state tourism department is rolling out plans to impart training and other resources to these families for their ventures. 

Choikey Yangton, 40, a housewife whose husband owns a couple of SUVs that ferries tourists from Tezpur (in Assam) to Tawang, says she plans to start a travel and tour agency. 

Yankton was born and grew up in Mago-Chuna, and married into a family in Tawang. “I know the entire region very well. I plan to start an agency that will offer customised tours of Mago-Chuna and the surrounding areas. My husband is planning to buy two more SUVs,” she told Swarajya. 

Dawa Norbu, a tour operator based in Bomdila (the headquarters of West Kameng district) who also hails from Mago-Chuna is planning to offer mountain treks from his native village. 

“There are many trekking trails from Mago-Chuna. The landscape is beautiful and with unexplored mountain streams, waterfalls, valleys etc, the area is a paradise of sorts for mountain and trekking lovers. It has tremendous potential that waits to be tapped with the opening of the road from Jang to Mago-Chuna,” Norbu told Swarajya.           

Tourist inflow will boost the economy of the area and will stop migration of young men and women from the village to the rest of the state, and the country, in search of better opportunities. 

Life Made Easier For Soldiers Too

Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel stationed along the McMahon Line also had to undertake an arduous trek for nearly four days to reach their posts along the India-CoT border. 

“Now, we can go right up to Mago-Chuna in our vehicles. The trek to the forward posts takes under a day now. We used to have a tough time transporting heavy machinery and equipment to our posts; the task has become much easier now,” said a company commander of an army battalion posted in the area. 

A trail from Mago-Chuna leads to the Tlung La pass (17,600 feet) that is located right at the border. This pass has been very well-guarded since October 1975 when Chinese troops entered 500 metres into Indian territory through the pass and abducted four soldiers belonging to the Assam Rifles. 

The Chinese tortured and killed the abducted soldiers. Since then, the pass has a permanent post and the surrounding areas are also well guarded. But access to the remote area that remains under snow cover for a major part of the year has been very difficult and the long trek from Jang had been taking a heavy toll on man and machine. 

“The road and the 4G network is making life a lot easier for us. Not only has communication  improved tremendously, we are also getting fresh supplies and many other things that were simply unavailable earlier. Life was very tough for us till even a month back. The changes that the road from Jang is bringing about is simply astounding,” said the army officer. 

More To Come

Chief Minister Khandu says that the 90 MW New Melling hydro-electric plant coming up at Thingbu near Mago will also provide a big boost to the economy of the area and make life a lot easier with uninterrupted and good quality power being available round the year. 

The state government is also planning to open a distance education centre equipped with computers for children of the village and surrounding areas. 

“This centre will enable kids to complete high school. Eventually, we will open a regular high school here,” said Khandu. 

The state government will open a centre for training locals in making carpets and blankets from yak fur. This will breed a new generation of entrepreneurs,” said Khandu. 

Another area that the state government is focusing on is farming. The Khandu government is in talks with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) to identify plants that can grow and crops that can be cultivated in the alpine heights (Mago-Chuna is about 12,000 feet above sea level) of the area. 

The whole idea, explained Chief Minister Khandu, is to develop the economy of the area and make it prosperous while also providing a good quality of life to the locals. 

“All this will stop the migration of locals to bigger towns and cities of the state and the country for better opportunities and better quality life,” he said. 

What is happening in Mago-Chuna, says yak herder Tsering Panden, “is nothing short of revolutionary”. 

“We could never have imagined that life will start changing so drastically for the better with our village getting a road link. The possibilities are now immense. For starters, I no longer have to go to Dirang every winter to escape from the freezing temperatures and severe shortage of food and essentials,” said Tsering Panden. 

Other residents of Mago-Chuna agree. But it is not just Mago-Chuna that is undergoing such transformation. Many other villages along the McMahon Line have been identified and will be connected by all weather-roads, besides getting round-the-clock power from the 50 minor hydel projects planned for them, schools and entrepreneurial opportunities. 

The Modi government’s ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ is putting an end to the ‘tyranny of distance’ that villages close to the McMahon Line have been suffering from for so long. The remoteness of these villages were their bane, but it is now being turned into their blessings.

The programme has been envisaged to drastically improve the infrastructure, economy and living conditions in the villages along the international border. 

The primary objective of this is to stop migration of residents of these strategically located villages to other parts of the country for better prospects and life. 

Villagers along the border serve as the eyes and ears of the border guarding forces — the Indian Army and the ITBP. Very often, they alert the forces about transgressions into Indian territory. 

The Modi government has not only been aiming to reverse this migration, but also develop the border villages as tourist attractions. Inflow of tourists to the border villages will not only boost the economy of the remote frontier areas, but also deter mischief by Chinese forces in occupied Tibet.