Come January, Arunachal's Dong village will package its 'first sunrise' story as festival to boost tourism

Guwahati: The story of Dong, the high-altitude village in Arunachal Pradesh that sees the first sunrise, will soon be packaged in the form of a unique Sunrise Festival and presented for tourists.

Perched atop 4,000 feet, Dong is situated near Kibithu, India's easternmost village near the Line of Actual Control that separates India from Tibet.

The BJP government in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday approved the plan to organise the Sunrise Festival, likely to be on January 1, when many throng the village to witness the first Sunrise of the year. "The vision is to have a curated festival managed by experienced experts as a self-sustained model. The state government shall provide infrastructure facilities in furtherance of this Vision. The dates shall coincide with the New Year and should continue for at least five days," the state government said after the Cabinet meeting at Kibithu town under which Dong village falls.

The decision was taken amid China's fresh attempt to create a controversy by renaming some of the places in Arunachal Pradesh. On Wednesday, India isssued a statement rejecting China's move calling it futile and baseless attempt to assert territorial claim over Arunachal Pradesh.

The story of Dong first came to light in 1999 and on January 1, 2,000, many from rest of India and aborad had witnessed the first sunrise of the millenium at the picturesque vilalge. The village has gained global attention for this event since then. The village has only nine households of Meyor tribe.

Push to big dams:

The rare cabinet meeting at Kibithu also pushed for construction of big hydro power projects by announcing formation of a joint venture company, M/s NEEPCO Arunachal Hydro Power Corporation Limited, between the state government and NEEPCO for implementation of five hydro power projects in the state. The cabinet also pressed for execution of other hydro power projects keeping in mind China's construction of several such pojects near the LAC.