Arunachal CM treks for 11 hours to meet people of remote village

Setting an example, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu climbed mountains and walked through forest areas to meet residents of a remote village. Khandu trekked a distance of 24 km for 11 hours to meet the villagers.

Itanagar:Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, currently touring his home constituency Mukto in Tawang district, trekked a distance of 24 km for 11 hours to meet people of a remote village. The 41-year old chief minister walked through mountain terrains and forests to reach Luguthang village, 97 km from Tawang.

"It was an arduous journey while crossing Karpu-La (16,000 ft) to Luguthang (14,500 ft)," Khandu tweeted after returning to Tawang on Thursday. The village, located at a height of 14,500 feet above sea level, in Thingbu tehsil of Tawang district has a population of 50 people who live in 10 houses.

"Had a review meeting with Luguthang villagers to ensure that benefits of every flagship programme reaches the last man standing in forward areas," the chief minister tweeted. The journey to the village, which is inaccessible by road, is a mesmerising one as one has to cross the eye- catching Karpu-La mountain and several natural lakes that fall on the route.

The chief minister, along with Tawang MLA Tsering Tashi, and villagers and monks of Tawang monastery, attended the consecration of Jangchup Stupa the next day.

The stupa has been erected in the name of Khandus father and former chief minister Dorjee Khandu who died in a helicopter crash near Luguthang village while returning from Tawang to Itanagar on April 30, 2011.

"The chief minister spent two nights at the house of a villager before trekking back," sources in Tawang said.

Luguthang is mostly inhabited by Brokpas, a nomadic yak-herding tribe. They spend the summer months around the higher Himalayas in search of grazing grounds for their yaks and come down to lower areas in harsh winter.

PTI