Bridge washes away in flood, remote Arunachal district near China border cut-off

Road connectivity to the remote Shi-Yomi district in Arunachal Pradesh snapped after a bridge was washed away in the floods triggered by incessant rains over the last couple of days, officials said on Friday.

Shi-Yomi district, bordering China, was cut-off from the rest of the country after the RCC bridge (reinforced cement concrete) near Yapik village on the Aalo-Mechuka Road was washed away on Wednesday night, they said.

Transportation of people and essential commodities to the remote district would be badly affected as it is likely to take days to restore the bridge, the officials said, adding that people travelling between Mechuka and Aalo were also left stranded.

Expressing serious concern over the incident, state Assembly Speaker Pasang D Sona, who represents the district, has urged the Border Roads Organization (BRO) to restore the bridge on war footing.

In a letter to the chief engineer of Project Brahmank of the BRO based at Pasighat in East Siang district, the speaker said the Aalo-Mechuka Road "is the key and strategic road for movement of people, transportation of essential commodities, life-saving drugs, construction material, and movement of defence personnel in the entire Shi-Yomi district".

He said that owing to the inclement weather, supply of essential items and evacuation of emergency patients through sorties would also not be possible.

The bridge is required to be constructed on war footing to restore the connectivity and to mitigate the problems, Sona said, urging the BRO chief engineer to take immediate action.