Shi Yomi district is one of the 23

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

state in northeastern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Shi-Yomi district was created on 9 December 2018 by dividing the

West Siang district West Siang (Pron:/ˈsjæŋ or ˈsɪæŋ/) is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. History In 1989, territory was given from West Siang to the East Siang district. Since 1999, this territory has been in the new ...

when northern areas along the China border were made into a newly created Shi-Yomi district and the remaining southern areas remain the part truncated West Siang district. It has its headquarters at

Tato Tato (died 510) was an early 6th century king of the Lombards. He was the son of Claffo and a king of the Lething Dynasty. According to Procopius, the Lombards were subject and paid tribute to the Heruli during his reign. In 508, he fought with ...

History

It was once a part of the West Siang district.

Location

After

Mechuka Mechukha or Menchukha (In Memba dialect, 'Men' means Medicine, 'Chu' means Water -streams, rivers, etc. & 'Kha' means Snow; Meaning "the land blessed with medicinal snow-fed water- river & streams") is a town, assembly constituency and subdivis ...

and Monigong, the

McMahon line The McMahon Line is the boundary between Tibet and British India as agreed in the maps and notes exchanged by the respective plenipotentiaries on 24–25 March 1914 at Delhi, as part of the 1914 Simla Convention. The line delimited the resp ...

separates

n territory and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

territory.

Demographics

Shi Yomi district is home to the people of Adi (Bokar, Libo, Ramo), Tagin, and

Memba The Memba are a people of Arunachal Pradesh. The Memba population is currently around four to five thousand. They mainly live in the districts of Shi Yomi, West Siang and Upper Siang. Some also in nearby Tibet. The religious life of the Memba ...

tribes. Religions practiced in the valley include

Donyi Polo Donyi-Polo (also Donyi-Poloism) is the designation given to the indigenous religion, of animistic and shamanic type, of the Tani and other Tibeto-Burman peoples of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in Northeast India. The name "Donyi-Polo" means "Su ...

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

, and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Scheduled Tribes are 12,202 (91.68%) of the population. At the time of the 2011 census, 71.83% of the population speaks Adi, 17.33% Bhotia, 3.77% Tagin, 2.17% Monpa, and 2.08%

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

as their first language. The languages spoken in Shi-Yomi district are Adi,

Bokar Lhoba (English translation: ; ; bo, ལྷོ་པ།) is any of a diverse amalgamation of Sino-Tibetan-speaking tribespeople living in and around Pemako, a region in southeastern Tibet including Mainling, Medog and Zayü counties of Nying ...

, Libo, Ramo, Tagin, and Memba.

Religion

Administration

The district was divided into four

administrative units Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

namely

, Tato, Pidi, and Manigong.

is part of the Arunachal East Lok Sabha constituency.

Transport

Prior to the

Trans-Arunachal Highway The Trans-Arunachal Highway (TAH), which includes an existing route comprising NH-13 () and parts of NH-15 (), NH-215 () and SH-25, is an under-construction 2-lane more than long highway passing through 16 districts in Arunachal Pradesh sta ...

construction of the modern road, the only access was via an

airstrip An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

, used by the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

to supply goods to local people. Another strategic road was constructed by BRO in 2017 in the

Kurung Kumey district Kurung Kumey district (Pron:/kʊˈɹʌŋ kʊˈmi/) is one of the 26 districts of the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, with its district headquarters in Koloriang. Origin of name The name of this district is derived from the Kurun ...

between Huri (which is already connected to Koloriang) and Sarli after heavy construction equipment was heli-airlifted from

Ziro Ziro is a town and the district headquarters of the Lower Subansiri district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is included the Tentative List for UNESCO's World Heritage Site for the '' Apatani cultural landscape''. The part of the ...

, which will enable Koloriang-Huri-Sarli-Taliha-Daporijo connectivity by facilitating the construction of the remaining Sarli-Taliha section.Border Road Org builds strategic road in remote Arunachal near China
Business Standard, 4 Sept 2017.SARDP approved roads
SARDP plan, 2017. Once Taliha-Daporijo, Taliha-

Nacho Nachos are a Mexican culinary dish consisting of fried tortilla chips or ''totopos'' covered with melted cheese or cheese sauce, as well as a variety of other toppings and garnishes, often including meats (such as ground beef or grilled chicken ...

, Taliha-Tato, headquarter of Shi Yomi district, were completed, all of which were under construction in February 2021 while facing land acquisition issues, it will provide the strategic frontier connectivity from

Seppa Seppa (formerly known as Sabpa) is the headquarters of the East Kameng district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. ''Sabpa'' means 'marshy' land in the local dialect. It lies on the bank of Kameng River and there is a helipad there. It ...

-Tamsang Yangfo-Sarili-Koloriang-Sarili-Nacho (and beyond to Daporijo-Taksing)-Tato (and beyond to Mechuka-Gelling and Aalo).Defence committee: action taken report
Parliament of India, 12 Feb 2021. The Indian Air Force maintains an airstrip, known as the

Advanced Landing Ground Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) were temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II during the liberation of Europe. They were built in the UK prior to the invasion and thereafter in northwest Europe from 6 June 19 ...

(ALG) in Mechuka. The airstrip is used frequently to bring in vital supplies from cities in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

via Antonov-32

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

and

helicopters A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

. The runway was renovated, strengthened, upgraded to a concrete

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

, and extended to 4,700 feet in 2017 by the government. The area has a significant

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

presence, which also creates some

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

opportunities for civilians. There is a twice-a-week helicopter service under the

UDAN ''Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik'' (Hindi for "Let the common citizens of the country fly"), known by its acronym ''UDAN'' (Hindi for "flight") is a regional airport development program of the Government of India and part of the Regional Connectivi ...

scheme.

Government of Arunachal Pradesh The Government of Arunachal Pradesh also known as the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh, or locally as State Government, is the Subnational administrative division, subnational government of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and its Di ...

has invited bids from private

airlines An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in whic ...

to operate a 9-seater fixed-wing air service which will not be under the

scheme.Arunachal Pradesh plans fixed-wing flight service to Mechuka, closest to China border

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

, 15 May 2018.

Tourism

Shi Yomi district's

is gradually becoming a popular tourist destination in

due to its scenic beauty, exotic

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

, gentle hills, snow-capped mountains, and Siom River. The

Siyom River The Siyom River is a right tributary of the Brahmaputra (Dihang or Siang) in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The Siyom rises on the south of the main ridge of the Assam Himalaya not far from the border with Tibet. The Siyom initially flows ...

, which flows through Mechukha also provides a scenic view of the valley. The major tourist attraction here is the 400-year-old Samten Yongcha

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

located at Neh Pemashubu on a hilltop 13 km westernmost of Mechukha. Since this was the meditation place for the 6th rebirth of Guru

Padmasambhāva Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

of the

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

sect, it is a pilgrimage place. This monastery is contemporary of the much-revered

Tawang Monastery Tawang Monastery, located in Tawang city of Tawang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, is the largest monastery in India. It is situated in the valley of the Tawang Chu, near the small town of the same name in the northwestern p ...

. It is locally also known as the gurudwara.Neh-pemashubu Monasty
Shi Yomi district website, NIC. It is reachable by helicopter service from Itanagar via Aalo or a train until the nearest railway station at Murkongselek 330 km away in Assam.

References

Districts of Arunachal Pradesh {{ArunachalPradesh-geo-stub