Abdul
Gani
Guwahati:
Imagine a trip to China through an all-weather road winding its way through
undulating hills and valleys of the Eastern Himalayas. The distance? Just 400
kms. That is, less the distance by road from Guwahati to Dibrugarh.
A new documentary by a film-maker duo of Assam has
documented a little-known road, which stretches from Tinsukia to Rima in China
and can become the shortest link with the Communist giant. The most important
part is that the road is ready to use, barring a few kms. Filmmaker Mrinal
Talukdar and Suman Dev Choudhury have documented this route in a 26-minute
documentary,
Road to China, produced by the Films Division of the
Union ministry of information and broadcasting. The easiest land access to
China passes through Parasuram Kunda, HailalyungWalong-Kibithu and finally
reaches Rima in Yunnan province. “The fact remains that there are very easy and
good roads right up to the border and they are not very mountainous and if both
the governments agree someday, you can drive down to China, spending just about
Rs2000 in fuel,” Mrinal Talukdar told Seven Sisters Post.
“It may be too early to dream of an immigration
point and then drive to the most beautiful region of China through a beautiful
highway, but the fact that it is not impossible as the geographical terrain is
so surprisingly easy and smooth with both sides having good roads all the way
up to the border,” he added.
Only in the last three kms over the Line of Actual
Control (LAC), the road is broken.
In fact, on the Indian side, the road from Tinsukia
to Kibithu is an all-weather road free from snow. The duo feels that if the
road is developed it can open up new opportunities as far as trade and commerce
between the neighbouring countries are concerned. “Most importantly, we do not
need the Stilwell Road which is actually more of an emotional issue than actual
reality. The Stilwell Road is nothing but dense jungle of more than 400 kms as
there is no road. Constructing a road means destruction of pristine forests.
Besides the road goes south towards Myanmar then enters Yunnan province
crossing about 1700 kilometres,” Talukdar said.
Suman Dev Choudhury said the road can also be
beneficial for the people living in far-flung areas of Arunachal Pradesh. “If
India can have direct road access to Bangladesh or even Pakistan, then why not
with China for the benefit of both sides? We always think and discuss of war
but nobody ever expresses their concern for the people living in inhuman
condition along the borders,” he added. The film has been shortlisted by the
Films Division of India to be screened at various national and international
film festivals. (Seven Sisters Post)
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