Floodlit pitch and sports
bank help Arunachal
town kick the habit
Sports gear lent to wean youth from drugs
Take your pick: Sports equipment kept at a facility in Miao in
Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Rahul Karmakar
GUWAHATI
The fight against drugs in a
small town in the Changlang
district of Arunachal Pra-
desh is riding on a bank of
sports equipment.
Soon after taking charge
as the Additional Deputy
Commissioner (ADC) of
Miao in February 2021, Sun-
ny K. Singh observed that
many children and teenag-
ers inhaling narcotic sub-
stances as dusk literally
made the town fall into stu-
pour. “Drug peddling and
addiction is a huge problem
in Arunachal Pradesh. I
found out many young peo-
ple were doing drugs in the
evening because they had
hardly anything else to do,”
Mr. Singh said. He decided
to wake the town of about
8,000 people up with shots,
serves and volleys.
And floodlights. But it was
easier said than done; the
centrally-located football-
cum-cricket ground in the
town was in a bad shape.
Mr. Singh began meeting
the community leaders even
as he looked for resources to
provide sports facilities.
Miao, the starting point of a
157-km trek route through
the Namdapha Tiger Re-
serve to Vijaynagar on the
Myanmar border, is inhabit-
ed mostly by the Tangsa,
*
Singpho, Yobin, Gurkha,
Chakma and Tibetan com-
munities.
The determined official
began overhauling the
sports infrastructure. The
football-cricket ground was
renovated and floodlights
put up. And a parkour park
was built.
“As more children and
teenagers began playing un-
der lights from 5-9.30 p.m., I
realised many poor children
were not able to play be-
cause they did not have any
sports kit,” Mr. Singh told
The Hindu.
Another round of meet-
ing with the community
leaders generated ₹2.5 lakh
and part the ADC’s office
was converted into a bank
for the sports equipment
bought with the money. Ma-
ny locals donated sports kits
too.
Team wins medals
The bank, unveiled on Janu-
ary 26, is accessible to all
children but preference will
soon be given to those from
underprivileged sections
through an identity card.
Mr. Singh’s initiative has
started paying dividends.
Miao Brawn, the town’s par-
kour team won two gold and
two silver medals at an inter-
national event in Nepal a few
months ago.