File image of APCC general secretary Mina Toko

The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has called upon the state BJP government led by chief minister Pema Khandu to give the detailed account of ‘Rs 50,000 crore spent for road connectivity in the state in the past five years as claimed by union home minister Amit Shah’.

Shah, while addressing the statehood day celebrations in February this year, had announced that ‘the Central government is spending Rs 50,000 crore for road construction in the State’.

APCC general secretary Mina Toko in a statement on Wednesday said “it has been months since the state is drowned in flood, landslide and road blockages leading to loss of human lives, property, livestock, economic crisis etc, however, the state government has still preferred to remain silent.”

“The denizens are taking several detours to get out of the catastrophe in absence of proper road connectivity, but the state government has preferred to remain a mute spectator. Hence, at this juncture of devastation, having good road connectivity or motorable roads is a dream still afar,” Toko said.

The Pradesh Congress also demanded the State Government to come clean on ‘the rapid road scheme under which thousands of kilometers of roads were to be constructed’.

“How hollow is the claim of the Pema Khandu government when a 10.9 km-long road between Chandranagar to Papu Nallah in Itanagar Capital Region is yet to be constructed completely. Where are the roads which the BJP government assured to complete by 2018? Where is the construction of 2,000 km-long Arunachal Frontier Highway as the inhabitants of Khimiyang, Manmao and Vijaynagar in Changlang district are still walking on foot and crossing jungles to reach the nearby towns.” Toko said.

The Congress said “while the BJP claims to be the architect of border roads, the Khandu government has literally failed to construct even a simple drain to channelize rainwater in the State.”

“Due to poor road connectivity the people of the state continue to bear the disruption in surface communication, however, the state government is glorifying itself by falsely claiming to have connected 1000 villages of the state with roads.” Toko said.

Damien Lepcha is Northeast Now Correspondent in Arunachal Pradesh. He can be reached at: [email protected]