Longding, Apr 12: Health and Water Resources Department Minister and Guardian Minister for Longding district, Biyuram Waghe, held a review meeting and conducted an inspection of key infrastructure projects during his visit to Longding headquarters on Saturday.
The minister inaugurated the District Drug Warehouse at the District Hospital and inspected the hospital facilities. Commending district medical officer Dilip Dutta for the optimal use of available resources, Waghe assured full support to upgrade medical infrastructure in the district.
Following the inspection, a district-level review meeting was held where deputy commissioner Bekir Nyorak and heads of departments presented updates through a presentation. The discussions focused on pressing issues such as water scarcity, shortage of manpower across departments, lack of accommodation for government employees, and non-transfer of subject teachers.
Longding-Pumao MLA Thangwang Wangham, addressing the meeting, stressed the need for improving communication and transportation infrastructure and urged the visiting minister to expedite approval for the proposed Longding-Bonia Highway project.
MLA and advisor to the PWD minister, Honchun Ngandam, raised concerns over the proposed Indo-Myanmar border fencing. He warned that the fencing could result in the loss of traditional jhum land belonging to villages under Pongchau SDO Post, which he said could affect local livelihoods and compromise territorial integrity. He requested Waghe to communicate the issue to the Union Home Minister and the Prime Minister’s Office.
Agriculture & allied sectors minister Gabriel D Wangsu cited examples of effective land management practices in his constituency and called for collective efforts by elected representatives and officers to address developmental challenges in Longding. He noted that while the state government is committed to supporting the TCL (Tirap, Changlang, Longding) region, land availability in Longding headquarters remains a constraint due to unplanned construction and lack of town planning.
Mentor secretary Taru Talo reviewed the implementation of centrally sponsored schemes and advised officials to align projects with the Chief Minister’s 25-point action plan under six thematic areas to ensure holistic development.
In his address, Waghe stressed the importance of identifying bottlenecks affecting project implementation. He asked the deputy commissioner and department heads to communicate any issues so that they could be taken up with concerned authorities for early resolution.
