Back to the HAATs, one of the most important days of the week
is Sunday, mainly for the ones which is among the Tea Garden clusters. Sunday,
being the day off for the Tea Garden labourers, this is a very important day,
an opportunity for the ladies to dress up well and the men to finish their
weekly salaries in gambling and drinking. Some of the HAATs which include
revenue villages, forest villages and tea villages become so big that one has
to travel more than a kilometre through the HAAT.
A major part of the big HAAT is dominated by the buying and
selling of cows and bullocks. One such big Sunday HAAT is held at Itakhola, a
major village which is situated on a 22km by-road from NH-52 from Balipara,
originating from Naharbari (Bakola), also called Seubari (6th mile
point) connecting Seijosa in East Kameng District in Arunachal Pradesh. The
next place is Balijhora, few kilometres after Itakhola, which also hosts a
small HAAT on Sunday. If by any chance the Sunday Itakhola HAAT is missed, the
next day, i.e.Monday, the nearby big HAAT with a different character is on
NH-52, at Towbhanga, next to the picturesque Jiabharali River and also much
close to Balipara.
This is a very interesting area considering the History, Diversity
in people, Biodiversity and International borders. As a continuation of the
Mahabharata, Bana Ashura, the King of Central Assam with capital at Sonitpur
(Tezpur) had war with Lord Krishna based on the his daughter Usha getting
married to Krishna’s grandson, Aniruddha. According to recorded history,
Harjjar Varma of Salastambar dynasty ruled from the capital called Harrupeswara
(Tezpur), followed by the rule of Brahmapal from Pal dynasty and finally by the
Barabhuyans before being a part of the Ahom kingdom.
Many at Tezpur and Siliguri will be remembering the ‘maroon
trains’ at Tezpur and Siliguri Junctions in 1959. After the Tibet Uprising, His
Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet and through Tawang finally
reached Misamari and then Tezpur Railway Station, where he was greeted by
thousands of people, of which there were more than 100 journalists from across
the world. There were more than 80000 Tibetans who followed HH and made India
their home, trains loaded with maroon Lama Dresses were hung out of the train
windows to be dried.
The Railways in this region started by 1895 with the
establishing of the very interesting Tezpore-Balipara Light Railway with
2’6” Narrow Gauge to carry mainly tea to the ghats (river ports) at Tezpur, but
this also became more popular as passenger route also. The records of 1934
railway time-table shows that there were 03 daily services on return basis, but
on Sundays there were 02 extra trains allotted as ‘HAAT specials”.
Around the Jia Bhareli River or Kameng River, as it is known
in Arunachal Pradesh, the river network gives birth to rich forested valleys,
which include some of the best Protected Areas of India, Nameri Tiger Reserve,
Pakke Tiger Reserve etc. Pakke Tiger Reserve, which is dominated by the Nyishi
community have successfully launched the first ‘community conservation and
tourism initiative’ in the Indian subcontinent. The tourism infrastructure,
Pakke Jungle Camp is situated in the nesting hill of hornbills, the oriental
pied, great pied and wreathered hornbills are common, also the rufous necked
has been photographed here.
12 Gaon Burhas (village heads) and community leaders decided
to undertake this initiative and finally managed to conserve this rich Hornbill
habitat in Pakke Tiger Reserve is also one of the best butterfly habitats and
also frequented by the wild elephants, leopards and several other wild animals.
The trek to the Naksha Pahar or elephant ride across the river is some of the lifetime
activities in the area. A leisurely day at the camp in the Nyishi huts with
some Gaoburhas is also a lifetime experience.
The Monday HAAT (market) on NH52 at Towbhanga near Jia Bhareli River
