APPROACH TO XIth FIVE YEAR PLAN IN RESPECT OF COMMUNICATION SECTOR UNDER PWD ARUNACHAL PRADESH GOVERNMENT OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT ITANAGAR P : 0360-2212427 1 APPROACH TO XIth FIVE YEAR PLAN IN RESPECT OF COMMUNICATION SECTOR UNDER PWD ARUNACHAL PRADESH I. ARUNACHAL PRADESH-AN OVERVIEW 1.1 Land and climate Arunachal Pradesh is a infrastructure deficient frontier state. Lying in the north-eastern tip of the Indian subcontinent it is bounded by long international borders of about 1628 Km with Bhutan to the west, China to the north, Myanmar to the east. It also shares interstate boundary with Assam and Nagaland in the south. With an area of 83,743 sq.km, it is the largest geographical entity in the whole of North-Eastern region. The State’s topography is predominantly hilly and it is traversed by many major rivers and their tributaries, all discharging into the Brahmaputra. About 82% of the geographical area of the state is under the cover of forests which support a diverse spectrum of flora and fauna. The state receives high precipitation with annual rainfall exceeding 2500 mm and substantial snow melt in the upper reaches. 1.2 People It is a Schedule Tribe majority state with ethnically diverse 25 major tribes. With total population of 1.10 million (as per the 2001 census) the density of population stands as 13.11 persons per sq.km, the thinnest in the country. Over 75% of the people live in villages which are widely scattered with many located in remote interiors close to the international borders. There has been a tendency for in migration of people from rural pockets in remote areas to urban centres and potential growth centres which have seen galloping increases in population. The high growth rare of urban population could also signal influx of people from outside. 1.3 Economy Earlier the economy was largely driven by a vibrant forest based industry. A roaring timber industry of logging, sawing, veneering and ply making saw a premature demise due to the Supreme Court order restricting such operations. 2 Subsistence agriculture is the main occupation of the indigenous people. There has been substantial development in horticulture with apples, oranges, pineapples, kiwi fruits, large etc. grown in various pockets of the state. The potential for further growth is unlimited. Tea plantation is coming up in a big way in Tirap, Changlang, Lohit, Lower Dibang Valley and East Siang districts. The great potential for cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants is yet to be tapped. The state is also endowed with immense potential for development of hydro- power, estimated to be around 50,000 MW, the third of the country. It also has deposits of coal, oil, limestone, graphite, etc. There is also great potential for development of tourism sector in the state. The great rivers, the high mountains, dense forest with species rich flora and fauna, and the ethnically divers people - all these could support adventure tourism, eco tourism, cultural tourism. Tourism industry in the state, however, is yet to take off mainly because of the problem caused by communication bottleneck. 1.4 Problems of communication The major stumbling block standing on the path to development of Arunachal Pradesh is the bottleneck in communication. In the absence of other mode of transport, road is the only reliable means of communication in the state. But the road development in Arunachal Pradesh is yet to reach take off stage. With the density of road standing at 18.65 Km/sq.km, (national average 84 Km/100 sq.km and NE average 60 km/100 sq.km) the state has the lowest road development index in the country. A large number of administrative centres and the majority of the villages in the state still remain unconnected. In places where there is a landing ground or a helipad, there could be limited air service through helicopters of the Pawan Hans Ltd. or IAF services however, are restricted to supply of essential commodities, evacuation of patients, VIP movement or defense needs. 3 The remote locations not linked by road are also served through a network of porter/mule tracks. With construction materials and essential items carted through head loads, development efforts in these areas are prohibitively costly and the progress extremely slow. 1.5 Vulnerability to natural hazard Forming a part of Zone-V, in the seismological map of the country, the state is highly vulnerable to earthquakes. Many major earthquake have been seen in the state including the one of more than 8 point on the Richer scale that occurred on 15.08.1950. During major calamities like earthquakes, landslides, or floods, the road communication could be snapped or remain severely affected, leading to problem of reaching essential commodities and relief materials to the affected areas and people. Further, disturbance of road communication will also be adversely affect other development activities. 4 II. DEVELOPMENT IN COMMUNICATION SECTOR - PRESENT STATUS 2.1 Roads under different agencies From a near “clean slate” state at the time of Independence, with just a few dirt tracks barely totaling 160 Km in length, the Arunachal Pradesh can now boast of 15619 Km of road network developed by various agencies like the State PWD, the BRO, the Rural Works Department, the Department of Environment and Forest etc. through different programme such as State Plan, North Eastern Council, Central Road Fund, Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, National Highways, General Staff Road, China Study Group road etc. The agency wise break up of road lengths are given below: Table 2.1 Roads in Arunachal Pradesh under different agencies. Sl.No Agency Length Category of Source in Km road of funding 1) PWD 6692.00 NH/MDR/ODR State Plan/ NEC/CRF/NH 2) BRO 4524.00 NH/ODR/MDR NH/GS/CSG 3) RWD/Forest 4403.00 ODR/VR State Plan/ PMGSY/Project Total 15619.00 Note: NH-National Highway, MDR-Major District Road, ODR-Ordinary District Road, VR-Village Road. With other modes of communication like railways, air services, inland water transport almost non existent, road is the harbinger of all developments in the state, and the means for delivering services in the social sector programmes like in the health, the education and poverty alleviation. Road development in Arunachal Pradesh also assumes a national importance because of the strategic needs of the defense forces guarding the long international borders with the three neighboring countries of Bhutan, China and Myanmar. 2.2 Density of road With a large geographical area of 83,734 sq.km the state has an average road density of 18.65 Km per 100 sq.km which is the lowest in the country (National 5 average 84 Km per 100 sq.km and the North-Eastern average 60 Km per 100 sq.km). 2.3 General deficiencies of roads Much of the existing road network is just able to provide marginal connectivity only because of the general shortcomings like the need of bridges on major water gaps, inadequate provision of cross drainage structures and weak pavement. The pavement profiles of the roads under PWD are as follows: 1) Earthen-2917.25 Km 2) Metalled-1693.69 Km 3) Carpetted-2081.12 Km Future road development plans will have to provide for taking care of these deficiencies. 2.4 Connectivity positions Out of 157 administrative centres in the state as many as 30 still remain unconnected. A list of the administrative centres showing their connectivity positions is enclosed as Annexure 2.1. Then again, out of the 3880 villages (as per 2001 Census), 2489 are yet to be connected. The connectivity status of the villages in the state are shown below in Table 2.2. Table 2.2: Connectivity status of villages in Arunachal Pradesh S No Population No of Left out Total habitations habitation habitation connected 1 2 3 4 5 1 1000 + 139 33 172 2 500-999 183 82 266 3 250-499 264 216 480 4 <250 805 2157 2962 Total 1391 2489 3880 It may be seen that 76% of the villages in the state has populations less than 250, which is the threshold population for qualifying under PMGSY programme in hilly or desert states or areas. 2.5 Higher cost of construction and maintenance Because of the hilly topography with fragile slopes; the needs for multitude of bridges over numerous rivers and streams; the large number of culverts and 6 lengthy drains required for discharging high surface runoff from heavy rainfalls and snowmelt; and also the vulnerability to earthquake and other natural calamities like landslides, floods etc., construction and maintenance of roads in the hilly state of Arunachal Pradesh is not only cost intensive but also difficult. 2.6 Lack of inter district connectivity A state having vast area with arial distance of over 600 Km from eastern to western tip and the distance from the plains of Assam to the international border on the north being more than 150 Km, at places and with the added problem of poor road infrastructure, communication from one district of Arunachal Pradesh to another often involves incursion into the territory of Assam, the geographical hub of the North East region, with which this state shares interstate boundary of over 700 Km. It thus involves avoidable extra cost and travel time. Travel through Assam, on the other hand, is also uncertain and often unsafe due to floods, frequent bandhs etc. Hence, there is an urgent need for inter district highway network within the territory of Arunachal Pradesh. This aspect will need special attention in the future plans. 2.7 Porter tracks and foot bridges The PWD continues to maintain over 5150 Km porter/mule tracks and more than 5400 mtrs of foot suspension bridges located on these tracks.