Editor,
I wish to draw the attention of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh towards the Indo-Myanmar border-affected Jagan village in Pongchau circle of Longding district.
Jagan village has a population of 1,845 as of 2026. The village is located in the easternmost part of the Patkai range. The villagers migrated from Khasa village to the then Ja-ngan Hung – which is now half in India and half in Myanmar due to the inappropriate demarcation of Indo-Myanmar border, which has left 90 per cent of our Jagan village habitation sites and cultivation land to the Myanmar jurisdiction.
Ja-ngan village migrated under the chieftainship of late Tagang Wangham, and subsequently the Ja-ngan village is settled for approximately above 30 years. Over the years, Ja-ngan village has lived in peace and harmony. There was sufficient of land and resources at that time. There was a time when agricultural food grains were surplus.
However, an unprecedented sea change occurred in Ja-ngan village; the demarcation for alignment of Border Pillar-158 was earmarked and eventually BP-158 was erected in the middle of Ja-ngan village habitation in 1970-71, followed by the series of directions held for resettlement of Ja-ngan (Jagan) village by the government concerned.
In compliance with the government direction, Jagan village was resettled at present Jagan village near Khasa village in 1981 on Khasa village’s ‘gifted land’, with no farmland for agricultural cultivation. It is learnt that Jagan village was to be compensated or rehabilitated under the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 and the Arunachal Pradesh Land Settlement and Records Act, 2000.
The BP-158 demarcation was for a sovereign or public purpose. In the context of Jagan village, no compensation or rehabilitation has been provided to us till date under any Act or scheme. Famine occurred in Jagan since 1981. Many precious lives were lost while searching for food grains in Kamkah and Nyahsa in the Myanmar jurisdiction during the so-called ‘headhunting era’.
During this long phase of darkness till the 90s, Jagan village battled for life like the rest of the villages of Arunachal, and still it is hoped that the present government may compensate Jagan village and other border-affected villages of Indo-Myanmar, Indo-Tibet, Indo-China of Arunachal for resettlement.
After the advent of road connectivity, Jagan village has found a bit of relief in terms of availability of food grains. Jagan village depends entirely on markets for all sorts of essential food commodities. As such, Jagan village is been deprived of getting a regular welfare scheme by the central/state government for infrastructure development of the village in all sectors, such as health, education, agriculture, horticulture, public health engineering, tourism, etc, despite Jagan village having the potential for generating employment for the unemployed youths.
A concerned resident of Jagan
