JAHAJIBASTI (URIAMGHAT), Sept 1 � �We are living here like animals, not like humans. Here the basic needs are not easily available. We have to walk to go to our schools and colleges,� said Dhane Toppo, a higher secondary second year student of Santipur No. 3. The road connecting Uriumghat and Jahajibasti and other border areas is in an unbelievable state.
The media team from Dergaon which visited the clash-hit Assam-Nagaland border area saw the condition of the communication system. The road as well as telecommunication system is in name only. The road has turned into a large ditch and vehicles often topple down on the wayside ditches. �Here the ditches are not on the roads but the roads are in the ditches,� Padma Basumatary, a social activist of the area said.
The road, a length of 35-40 km from Uriumghat to Jahajibasti to Majgaon, Santipur No. 3 etc. needs 5-6 hours to cover. No RCC bridge was seen in the areas and the culverts etc., over several streams and bridges over the other smaller rivers are in a deplorable state. Due to the poor condition of the roads, the miscreants find it easy to carry out operations. As the police station is situated more than 40 kilometres away from the area and it needs 5-6 hours to cover the distance, the miscreants have it easy. �We have been handed over to the CRPF personnel who are closely related to the Nagas, contrary to their neutrality. As the CRPF personnel are only spectators and help the Nagas in their business and the police station is not easily accessible so we have no alternative but to sacrifice our lives to the Nagas,� Dwijen Toppo, a resident of Santipur No. 3 revealed. Similarly the telecommunication facility is completely nil. No mobile phone of any service provider is operating in the border areas. The mobile phones of our media team members were meaningless while we were visiting the clash-hit areas. From Uriumghat to the border area, BSNL and other networks is non-existent. On the other hand, no landline communication was seen in the areas. �The mobile phone network in our area is not for us. This is for the people of the town only,� Suklal Toppo, a resident of Santipur No. 3 said. On the other hand, the people have to travel nearly 70 kilometres to meet any administrative officer at Sarupathar. So the development of the road communication as well as the telecommunication system in the areas is the need of the hour. It is expected that with the good communication system, any trouble in the area may be controlled on time.
