Arunachal Villagers Repair Neglected Road After Years of Official Inaction

Itanagar: Residents and youths in Chinvan village took shovels to their local road on Sunday. They spent the entire day fixing potholes and clearing blocked drains. The group belongs to the Chinvan Village Youths in the Pongchau Circle of Arunachal Pradesh’s Longding district. They braved harsh weather to work on the vital route connecting to Pongchau Lower Village.

The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana program built this road back in 2014. It was supposed to provide reliable, all-weather access. That promise died years ago. “The road was constructed in 2014 under the highly ambitious PMGSY scheme with a promise to provide an all-weather road to the village. But its condition has deteriorated over the years and is now completely dilapidated,” one villager said.

Locals claim they filed repeated petitions with the state to handle the repairs. Officials never responded. The project eventually fell on the shoulders of local volunteers because the path became nearly impassable. Another villager noted the daily struggle, saying, “We have been facing immense difficulties because of the road’s condition. We requested the concerned department to repair it, but when nothing was done, the youths took up the work on their own.” The community is now demanding the government step up to ensure long-term, durable road connectivity for the area.