Arunachal’s valley of romance gets ‘summer capital’
YACHULI : The Arunachal Pradesh’s valley of romance, Yachuli, became a divisional headquarters on Tuesday, almost two decades and seven chief ministers after it was slated to become the summer capital.
Partly responsible for Yachuli’s elevation as headquarters of West Division – covering 11 districts and 33 assembly seats under Arunachal West parliamentary constituency – is the frontier state’s bid to arrest migration of people from poorly-governed areas bordering the Tibet region.
Yachuli, in Lower Subansiri district, is about 100km northeast of state capital Itanagar and has about 3,000 residents. The name of the picturesque place translates into valley of romance, and, as per the locals, got the name because of caves where love blossomed once upon a time.
“This is a historic day. The divisional commissioner will be able to take decisions independently to approve projects up to ₹ 50 lakh,” chief minister Pema Khandu said after the inauguration.
Locals donated 270 hectares of land for the office shared by a divisional commissioner and a deputy inspector general of police.
Gamli Padu was appointed the West Division’s first divisional commissioner and Tusar Taka the first DIG.
Arunachal East parliamentary constituency straddling 12 districts and 27 assembly seats has a similar set-up at Namsai in the southern region. The Namsai division was established a month ago without much of the unrest Yachuli witnessed.
“We have got the divisional headquarters after 19 years. It has been a long fight, but all’s well that ends well,” said Likha Saaya, the MLA whose persistence paid off.
Toko Teki, former leader of the All Nyishi Students’ Union, said Yachuli was destined to be the state’s summer capital 30 years ago because “running a geographically challenged state on China’s radar is not easy from a centralised place (Itanagar)”.