A mudslide didn’t just block a highway near Arunachal’s prized international airport — it exposed something far more dangerous: years of unchecked earth-cutting that nobody stopped in time.
On the night of Sunday, August 3, a massive wall of mud and debris came crashing down onto NH 415, just a few kilometres short of the Donyi Polo International Airport in Hollongi. Vehicles were stranded for hours. And when daylight came, the full picture of what caused it was impossible to ignore — private individuals had been cutting into the hillside right next to one of the most critical stretches of highway in Arunachal Pradesh.
“Clean It Up — Or Face the Law”
The Papum Pare district administration has since identified three major locations where road damage occurred due to earth-cutting, involving two private individuals and an agency that was laying a gas pipeline along the corridor. All three have been issued firm directions to remove the debris they caused. Officials made it clear that legal consequences will follow if they fail to act. That’s strong language from the administration — and it should be. The damage didn’t happen overnight. It happened because someone looked the other way for far too long.
Four Days, and the Hill Keeps Winning
Workers deployed by the landowners have been at the site since the slide. But cleaning up after a monsoon mudslide is no simple task. “For the last four days, we are continuously working to clear debris. But when it rains, the debris keeps coming from the hill. However, we are trying to clear as soon as possible,” said a worker at the site. It’s an honest admission — and a reminder of just how relentless the hills of Arunachal can be once they start moving. You can’t negotiate with gravity.
The Public is Angry — and Not Without Reason
Both the Papum Pare and the Itanagar Capital Region administrations have drawn sharp public criticism for their failure to control illegal earth-cutting along the highway. Between Hollongi and Itanagar, multiple stretches of road have been hit. People have seen this coming. The frustration in the community is real — this is the road that leads to an international airport, and it is being treated like somebody’s personal construction yard. Techi Taka, GPC of Hollongi, appealed to people who purchase land in the area to refrain from earth-cutting and to inform local panchayat leaders and the administration if there is an urgent need to do so. That appeal carries weight — but it also underlines just how widespread and brazen the problem has become.
A Road on the Verge of Disappearing
Beyond the debris-clearing effort, there’s another alarming detail. Authorities have taken steps to protect the road near the Donyi Polo International Airport entry point, which is on the verge of being washed away. Let that sink in. The access road to Arunachal’s international airport is teetering. District administration officials, PWD Highway engineers, and local panchayat leaders are on the ground monitoring the work. That’s reassuring — but the fact that it reached this point at all is the real story here.
This isn’t just about one mudslide or one blocked highway. It’s about what happens when oversight fails and private interests are allowed to eat into land that affects everyone. The administration’s crackdown is necessary — but it needs to last well beyond the monsoon season.
HASHTAGS
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