Road infrastructure development in eastern Arunachal has been tremendous over the past few years. This part of the state has taken place of pride with netizens including the state's who's who tweeting pictures of the top class roads. On the other hand the western part of Arunachal especially West Siang and newly carved Lepa rada districts seems to be caught in a time warp with pathetic road infrastructure.

Once upon a time, there were single-lane roads connecting Likbali via Basar on one side and on the other side, road connecting Pasighat via Pangin. At the moment, these two roads are in pathetic shape.  Likabali-Aalo road via Basar hasn’t made any progress in almost a decade now. Road condition has worsened with each passing monsoon. There aren’t any black topping surfaces left. Lesser said the better about this project, the way it is managed and executed. And Pasighat-Aalo via Pangin route can be dismissed as upgraded version of a porter track wherein it takes almost 3 hrs to cover a distance of little over 20 kms. Thus, technically speaking, there is no road to Aalo. Once a thriving, vibrant town, Aalo, one of the oldest towns of Arunachal and the headquarters of West Siang district looks like a place which time has forgotten. 

Despite all efforts and tall promises of finding solutions, not an inch has moved in this project. This project was envisioned in 2008 and work had started in 2009. More than 13 years later, proper road is a distant dream; nay, it appears to be a pipe dream. 

While the road project remains in limbo, it is the ordinary citizens who continue to pay the price!