Diyun

Diyun, a small township on the rise, is located in Changlang District of Arunachal Pradesh. It got its name from a very small seasonal river by the same name. It is located at 27°31'28"N and 96°8'33"E, geographically. It is surrounded by the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas on two sides and by The Patkai Bum Range of Mountains on one side.

Communities

Diyun Circle is mostly populated by the Chakma people. Almost 80% of the population is Chakma, with the rest being Singphos, ahoms Khamptis, Deoris, Hajongs, Tangsas, and other communities.

History

Diyun, was nowhere before the sixties. It is during the 60's that it got its name from a stream that is flowing through it. When the Chakamas came here as refugees from the then East Pakistan now Bangladesh. The dominant population of the area, i.e. the Chakmas came during the 60's in the then [NEFA] (North-East Frontier Agency), before it got statehood in 20 February 1987. The Chakmas came to NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh) as refugees to stay permanently from the then East Pakistan when their lands in the Chitagong Hill Tracts (now in Bangladesh)were submerged under the waters of the Kaptai Dam built on the river Karnaphuli and other communal violence related reasons.

When the Chakmas came in Arunachal Pradesh, the Govt. of India rehabilitated them in the areas of Diyun Circle, Deban Circle, Miao Circle, Bordumsa Circle and the M'Pen area which comes under the Miao Circle. At that time, the whole area was very sparsely populated, there were hardly 5 persons per km². inhabiting the place. The Indian Govt. allotted lands for the Chakmas in these regions in the form of Blocks and an administrative office of a Second Class Magistrate (The Circle Officer) was put in operation to administer these Blocks. Every possible facilities and amenities were provided, including 'Ration Cards', electricity supply, water supply and schools etc.

The Chakmas of Arunachal Pradesh received the same rights as Indian nationals until 1991. And afterwards, the political scenario changed drastically and every possible trick was played by the state Government to get the Chakmas out of Arunachal Pradesh.

Socio-political scenario

The socio-political life of the people, mainly the Chakmas has not changed since 1991 until recently (2004) when approximately 1497 Chakmas and Hajongs were enrolled in the Voters List by the EC. Still the majority of the Chakmas and Hajongs are yet to get enrolled by the EC.

Meanwhile, after the Assembly Elections of 2004, many of those who were enrolled have been cancelled from the Voters List.

Socio-economic condition

The economic condition of Diyun has been lacking far behind unlike other small townships of Arunachal Pradesh, like Namsai, Miao, Chowkham and Bordumsa. The infrastructure of Diyun is very poor, may be due to the negligence of the State Government or due to corruption.

TO BE UPDATED........

How to reach Diyun

The nearest railway station is Tinsukia and the nearest airport is Dibrugarh. Both Tinsukia and Dibrugarh are well connected to the region including Assam and Arunachal Pradesh as well as to other parts of India. It lies 32 km away from Namsai, India Circle. The road to Diyun takes an angle from the NH52 at Namsai, 2nd Mile.

This road was constructed by OIL India Ltd as a means of transporting crude oil to Digboi and Duliajan which was found at Manabhum and Innao. Although the road lies in a dilapidated condition now due to the rains and negligence of the PWD, it is still usable (say something is better than nothing).

The route that is to be taken starts from TInsukia on NH37 (AT Road) towards east. At Rupai, a further Eastwards diversion diverts the NH37 to NH52 which has to be taken. Along this road comes Kakopather, the last town of Assam and Dirak the last village of Assam. At Dirak border, a gate has to be passed after police verification and checking. Then comes Mahadevpur, the first village of Arunachal Pradesh on this route. At around 10 km from Mahadevpur, the diversion or a link road comes which goes straight to Diyun.

During every assembly elections, the roads are always repaired with temporary asphalt concrete for the voters' convenience. The present MLA of the constituency is Mr C.C. Singhpo who has promised the people of this region to construct the asphalt concrete roads in Diyun after the win in the general election. The fact is that Mr. Singhpo is the most popular user of these roads with his SUV's.

Infrastructure

As such Mr. Singpho didn't do much for the development of Diyun Bazaar. The condition of infrastructure is worrisome. It Take almost 2 hours to reach Diyun from Namsai, India which is only 32 km. It is an open secret that the Local leaders like Mr. Singpho and others leaders don't give the maintenance and construction of the road to other credible agencies like OIL India Ltd. or BRO (Border Road Organization) since they will not get the contracts. Thus not be able to earn black money. Another infrastructure parameter electricity, which though present but would be better without it. Since the last 20 years the capacity of the Diyun transformer was not changed or augmented. With the rapid increase in population of Diyun with the building of IRBN Headquarters, EAC office, BDO office along with the electrification of peripheral villages. The consumption of electricity increased manifold. But the transformer was never augmented to carry the load. There is 5–10 hours of load shedding daily. And even when there is power the voltage is so low that even fan does not run properly. The people of Diyun are Buddhists. They have been following Buddhism since a long time ago.