Arunachal Pradesh: State’s Only Unconnected Constituency Tali Gets Road Connectivity After 66 Years

For the first time since India’s Independence, the last administrative centre and the only unconnected Assembly constituency of Arunachal Pradesh — Tali — has been connected by road, ending years of wait by the locals.

Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, became the first Chief Minister to make the trip through the road connectivity to Tali, located in Kra Daadi district, which shares borders with China.

The Chief Minister had promised the locals during his visit to the region in 2017, to come back on road, which was fulfilled on the auspicious occasion of Nyokum.

Nyokum festival is celebrated by the Nyishi community to worship Goddess Nyokum for a good harvest, coupled with prayers that their crops survive floods and droughts.

Attending the 45th Nyokum Celebrations on Sunday (26 February), he expressed his pride in being part of the ground breaking event at which the Tali administrative headquarters were connected by road for the first time — after being established in 1957.

He further noted that it was necessary to work with a sense of urgency in order to complete the 51 km Yangte-Tali Road.

Inspecting the under-construction road from Tali to Pip Sorang, the circle headquarters of Tali administrative centre, Khandu assured that the 50 km stretch under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) would be finished by the end of the year.

He urged the people to not ask for indemnity for land, reassuring them that with road connectivity, the region can witness holistic progress.

Therefore, if people provided their land for free, the state administration was obligated to build roads wherever necessary.

Expressing worries about the overdue finishing of the connectivity between Tamen in Kamle district, to Tali Road, which had started in the late 1960s, the Chief Minister vowed that this road will be finished by his government.

He additionally conceded that the Kumey bridge point section of the Yangte-Tali Road should be addressed, as the present path is dangerously hazardous for driving.

For the same, instructions were given to the relevant personnel to finish the section promptly and adjust the arrangement wherever required.

Khandu also declared that the 15 km road from Joram-Koloriang highway to Yangte is not suitable for daily use, and pledged that it will be serviced straight away.

With this connectivity, the CM invited the people of the Tali area, who have moved to places such as Ziro and Itanagar, to return and settle back in their villages.

The CM also dedicated the newly reconstructed steel-arch bridge across the Kumey river to the people, as he journeyed from Yangte to Tali.  

In September 2019, the 280 ft single-lane bridge over Kumey river collapsed due to landslides. This bridge was made at an estimated cost of Rs 14 crore.

Along with the Chief Minister, Home Minister Bamang Felix, Namsai legislator Chow Zignu Namchoom and Palin legislator Balo Raja were also present for this opening event.