Anini

Anini
District Headquarters
Aerial viewof Anini
Anini Location of Anini inArunachal Pradesh Anini Anini (India)
Coordinates:28°47′53″N95°54′13″E
Country	India
State	Arunachal Pradesh
District	Dibang Valley
Sub-district	Anini Circle
Elevation	1,968 m (6,457 ft)
Population (2001)
• Total	2,264
Demonym	Aninese
Time zone	UTC+5:30(Indian Standard Time)
Postal Index Code(India)	792101
Indian Telephone Prefix	03801
ISO 3166 code	IN
Climate	Cwb
Population

Aniniis the headquarters of theDibang Valleydistrict in the state ofArunachal PradeshinNortheast India.Anini was also the district headquarters of the undivided Dibang Valley district. Most of this location's population consists of theIdu Mishmitribal people. Due to its remote location, Anini remains a small and underdeveloped town. However, it still has basic road and air links to the rest of India. The town is fully dependent on the nearest major settlement,Roing,which is in theLower Dibang Valley District,for most commercial needs.

The Anini sub-division consists of six administrative circles— Anini,Mipi,Dambeun,Etalin,Anelih, and Arzoo.

Etymology

While there is no definite answer, Anini's name may have come from Inini or Innini. Historical maps of Arunachal Pradesh from times before the Lower Dibang Valley district were carved out of the Dibang Valley District in 2001.BeforeRoingwas established, these maps indicate the capital of theDibang Valley Districtwas "Inini."Inini may have come from theIduword "inni," which is the word for the Idu Mishmi people's supreme deity or god.

History

Like the history ofArunachal Pradesh,Anini's history is cloudy. The nativeIdu Mishmisand other tribes were said to have migrated from ancientTibetback in the1stor 1st millennium BC. They have been believed to have stopped in Lhoyu. Lhoyu became under Tibetan control around the 7th century.Although inhabited by Idu Mishmis in all that time, it took until the times ofNEFAand theBritish Rajfor Anini to be officially established. Anini's importance grew duringWorld War II,when supplies and troops needed to be sent toChinathrough theLedo RoadinAssam.In 1947, Anini became a part of India. At this point theRepublic of Chinawas free to claim most of Arunachal, making it andAksai Chinunder dispute. ThePeople's Republic of Chinaemerged in 1949, and once the British left in 1950, Arunachal andAksai Chinwere under dispute. Since then, they remained under dispute. In June 1980, theDibang Valley districtwas finally carved out of theLohit District,and Anini was pronounced capital.Since then, Anini has been the only district headquarters without proper road links to the rest ofIndia.

Geography

Cane bridge over the Dri River

Dibang District Valley with Anini and Anini circle

Most of Anini is located on a miniatureplateaubetween two tributaries of theDibang river,theDri riverand the Mathun river. The town has asubdistrictof its own: Anini Circle.As of the2011 Census of India,there were 4,489 people living in Anini Circle.Its location just south of theDibang Wildlife Sanctuarymakes Anini the northernmostdistrict headquartersinNortheast India.

Elevation

The small settlement of Anini is located at an elevation of 1,968 metres (6,457 ft) above sea level.On the Aninese Plateau, the average elevation is 1,800 meters,but the average elevation of the town is 2,068 meters. According toGoogle Maps' terrain feature, Anini is around 1,600–1,800 meters above sea level and up north of Anini, the elevation can go up to 3,800 meters above sea level. According to the official website of theDibang Valley District,Anini's altitude is at 1,968 meters above sea level.

Earthquakes

Anini is located on theEurasian Plate,about 420 miles north of the junction of theIndian Plateand theEurasian Plate,which makes Anini earthquake-prone. The1950 Assam–Tibet earthquakebadly affected both theDibangandLower Dibang Valleys.70% of the residents of the area died in this earthquake.On 2 June 2005 at 01:36 AMIST,a 5.7magnitudeearthquake hit theUpper Dibang Valleydistrict. Although there were not any casualties reported,landslidesblocked communication between Anini and other villages in the district. Theseismic upheavalwas felt all aroundArunachal Pradeshand in some areas ofTibet.

Mountains

The closest mountain to Anini is relatively unnoticed. Its name, Kelingon was named by the local MiduIdus.Also there is another mountain. Kahaii Kala, which peaks at around 5,000 meters above sea level, is the highest around the region. Like Kelingon, it was named by the locals.

Panorama of the town of Anini

Climate

Anini in winter, with snowfall

Anini's climate varies by elevation. In the lower elevations, the climate ishumid subtropical.In the climate around the plateau, it istemperate.Anini is within themonsoon zoneand receives both thesouthwest monsoonofSouth Asiaand thenortheast monsoonofEast Asia.During the May–October time, Anini receives 80% of its precipitation. Snowfall is common in the winter, and can become quite heavy (6m - 10m) in the mountains.

Language

Main article:Idu Mishmi Language

The main language of Anini is the Midu Dialect of theIdu Mishmi Language.Midu is the northernmost dialect of the Idu Mishmi Language.The Midu Dialect is only spoken in Anini.Soon, government officials will start using the Idu Azobra script,a script proposed by the RoingMLA,Laeta Umbrey, that aims to preserve theendangered language.

Demographics

Anini has a population of 2,264 people living in 613 households as of 2001. Of those 2,264 people, 1,331 are males and 933 are females. Due to its small population, Anini is not yet acensus town,needing about 3,000 more people to qualify.However, Anini may become a consensus town sooner than anticipated, due to theDibang Valley district's high population growth rate of 33.61permille(as of 2001).Idu Mishmis, also known asYidu Lhobain China, are the main inhabitants of the district.

Infrastructure

Buildings of Anini, seen across a fence

Although remote, the town has basic infrastructure. There is a government hospital,district library,police station,and accommodation for visitors in the Circuit House. The two schools in Anini are the Government Higher Secondary School of Anini, a school run by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh and affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) that has 450 students on roll, and Jawahar Navodaya Vidalaya, which is also a hostel for students. Dr. Saga Migri is the medical superintendent at the hospital.which is used by theArunachal Helicopter Servicefor transportation and by other helicopters bringing in supplies fromRoing.

Airports

The nearest airport from Anini is theTezu Airport,about 300 km by road. The easiest way to get to Anini is through theDibrugarh Airport(throughGuwahati airport), though it is unlikely that Anini will get an airport closer than Itanagar anytime soon due to the sparse population.

Construction and development

There is a steelarch bridgeunder construction over theRiver Dri(Dibang River) near Anini. The 135-meter span bridge will have a single lane carriage-way with thrust blocks at each end. It will be sponsored by thePublic Works Department of Arunachal Pradeshand by Damodar Ropeways and Construction (Calcutta).

Thestate governmentmentioned in the 2005-2006 Annual Plan about the:

• "Infrastructure development of Government Higher Secondary School at Anini."
• "Improvement of Township Road network at Anini."
• "Infrastructure development of District Hospital at Anini."

The new building of the Government Higher Secondary School of Anini

As a matter of fact, the new building of the higher secondary school greatly improved, to an extent of being considered the finest school in the state.Although this is a major milestone in the improvement of amenities at Anini, the town has a long way to go in order to become reasonably developed.

There is also a dam being constructed. TheDibang Valley Dam,also known as the Dibang Dam, will not seriously affect Anini since it is in theLower Dibang Valley.It is approximately 43 kilometers fromRoing,at Munli.The Dibang Dam, once completed in 2017, will be the tallestconcrete gravity damin the world.The dam will also be the tallest dam in India, at 288 meters tall. It will also have the largest amount of power generation. Also, a meeting has taken place at Anini to discuss the quick start of a new highway fromRoingto Anini. This project is under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme (SARDP) which is run by theMinistry of Road Transport and Highways of India.It will run through the dam site at Munli, which will shorten the existing 228-kilometer Roing-Anini Highway by 89 kilometers. The government officials and the localPanchayatleaders who were present at the meeting endorsed the plan. After the road is completed, theDibang areawould socioeconomically and constructively boost. This road will also connect with Hunli, Munli,Chidu,and Alopa. TheRs6 billion two-lane highway will run throughRoing Bazaar,fromMeka,and will secure Anini with good connectivity with the rest of India.

Arunachal Helicopter Service

TheArunachal Helicopter Servicemakes several stops to Anini, connecting Anini to the rest of Arunachal and theDibrugarh AirportinAssam.Anini is a main stop in both theEurocopter Dauphinand theMI-172helicopters' schedule. The helicopter service is a branch off ofPawan Hans,which is responsible for supplying the helicopters.

Protests of neglect

Although these efforts are being made to improve the infrastructure in Anini, theArunachal Timesnewspaper claims that Anini has been neglected due to "frequent communication disruption and deteriorating health conditions." The Government Higher Secondary School hasn't had either a principle or a vice-president for two years. A similar situation is present with the Jawohar Navodaya Vidalaya school in Anini. TheAll Idu Mishmi Students Union (AIMSU)as well as the Dibang Valley Students Union|Dibang Valley Students Union (DVSU) are protesting about the apparent miserable conditions in Anini. The AIMSU secretary Rajiv Mihu feels that, "None of the government employees want to serve in the remote district. The people of Dibang Valley aren't scaring them away. It is the pitiful living conditions that are driving them away." The government responded to the situation by assuring the protesters that the required number of teachers will be hired, and a new vice principal and principal will be deputed. "Anini is neglected politically," commented Mihu. "Similar protest action in Roing would have shaken the political corridors ofItanagar."

Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary

Main article:Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary

TheDibang Wildlife Sanctuary,is located just north of Anini and was established in 1992. The region is very mountainous, and snowfall is common in this region. It is protected by theDepartment of Environment and Forest of Arunachal Pradesh.The altitude ranges from an absolute low of 1800 meters to the peak of Kalaii Kala at 5000 meters. Some infrastructure that you may find are the forest rest house and a hiking trail.

Flora

The vegetation of Arunachal ranges fromtemperatetoalpine.Temperate broadleaf forestsandEastern Himalayan broadleaf forestsare found around 1800–2800 meters above sea level and 2800–3500 meters above sea level is where thetemperate coniferous forestsare found.Alpine forestsare found at an altitude off 3500+ meters and are mostly covered in snow year round. Some other plants that are found includeBamboo,Tsuga,andAbies.

Fauna

TheDibang Wildlife Sanctuaryis rich in wildlife. Rare mammals such as Mishmi takin, Red goral, Musk deer (at least two species), Red panda, Asiatic black bear, occasional Tiger and Gongshan muntjac occurs while among birds there is the rareSclater's monaland Blyth's Tragopan.A flying squirrel new to science has been recently discovered from the edge of this sanctuary. It has been named as Mishmi Hills Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista mishmiensis.

Politics

Arunachal Pradesh Assembly Election

2004-09,14

Main article:2009 Arunachal Pradesh state assembly elections

The winning candidate for the position of theMLAof Anini wasShri Rajesh Tacho,winning 41.57 percent of the 3038 valid votes in 2004. There were actually 4741 voters, even though Anini's population is only 2264 people. He had a lead margin of 260 and a total number of 1263. He is a part of theIndian National Congress Party.Also, he was re-elected in 2009, barely beating Eri Tayu of theNationalist Congress Partyby 81 votes.Tachoalso was nominated as Chairman of theCommittee of the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assemblyon Balanced Development of CD Blocks in Arunachal Pradesh, replacingShri Lombo Tayeng,who has resigned after his induction into theCouncil of Ministers,otherwise known as the Cabinet of Arunachal Pradesh.

Claims

Anini sits near theMcMahon Line,the disputed northern boundary ofArunachal Pradesh,previously referred to as theNorth-East Frontier Agency.The Chinese government has never accepted the McMahon line as a legitimate boundary and refers to the region asSouth Tibet.Sovereignty over the territory south of the McMahon line was the apparent cause of the1962 Sino-Indian War.

Alternative names

Due to the competing claims by China and India, Anini has many different names.

• Anini (Indian)
• Giannini (formal to China)
• Annini (informal to China)
• An ni ni(Simplified Chinese characters)
• A ni ni (Chinese)
• Ilupu (possibly native)
• Inini or Innini, old name, used in the times ofNEFA,beforeRoingwas established.

See also

• Border Dispute
• Sino-Indian War