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| A hanging bridge in Arunachal Pradesh.A Telegraph picture |
The memory of a brush with death continues to haunt Pappu Jain.
A resident of Komsing, a village under Panging circle of West Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh, the 38-year-old trader finds it difficult to forget what happened three years ago on a hanging bridge.
The encounter with death still sends a shiver down his spine.
A gust of wind overturned the 395-metre-long hanging bridge, the only mode of communication for nearly 9,000 villagers spread across eight hamlets.
“We had no option but to cross the bridge that at times overturns. I can vividly remember one such incident that took place two years back. I was accompanied by a friend and his family, including a child. We were crossing Komsing bridge, the longest hanging bridge in the state.
“On hearing a sound, I turned and was horrified to see the child fall into the Siang river flowing 100 feet below. The parents immediately plunged into the river to rescue the child.”
While the storm-wrecked bridge swung wildly, Jain clung on with all his might. He hurt his kidney and other organs and eventually had to be taken to a Chennai hospital where he took six months to recover.
Instances like these abound. T. Taki, a government official, had to helplessly watch her mother inching towards death at their residence in Komsing as she could not be shifted to the district hospital in Aalo, about 30km from their village, simply because they did not dare to cross the hanging bridge.
Repeated appeals by villagers of Komsing I, Komsing II, Jorsing, Pangi, Sissen, Rasing, Beging, Riew and Rebo Panging for construction of a concrete bridge over the Siang river have fallen on deaf ears.
“The PWD had assured us of a bridge some six years back, but it has done nothing so far. We finally decided to construct a rope bridge,” T. Darrang, the headman of Komsing said.
Not one but five children from Assam aged between five to 10 and with inborn heart deformities have been given a new lease of life by Rotary Foundation.
Bereft of the means of raising over Rs 3 lakh required for corrective surgery and medication of their children, the parents did not have words to express thanks to the foundation that arranged their treatment under the Gift of Life project.
“Five children have been operated upon in the last couple of months at Escorts and the National Health Institute in Delhi. Two more are in the line. The children were from Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Margherita and Silchar ,” child specialist and a member of the Rotary Club of Gauhati West, Dibakar Kalita said.
In India, cricket is religion even for a football-crazy state like Manipur.
Head constable Viking Salam, a wicketkeeper-batsman, and L. Samananda, 29, a right-arm medium pacer who are hooked on the gentleman’s game, have taken leave and are participating in cricket tournaments in Assam at their own expense.
All they want is to see the Manipur Police Sports Club cricket team gets due recognition from the authorities. They aim at popularising the game in the state by throwing open opportunities before promising players.
Salam is content with his new role. “We reached Guwahati on December 17 and played in two meets. We hope the experience we have gathered will stand us in good stead in the A division league back home,” he said.
