Seppa (formerly known as Sepla) is the headquarter of the

East Kameng East Kameng district is one of districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern, India. It shares an international border with China in the north and district borders with West Kameng district to the west, Pakke-Kessang district to the south ...

district 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. ''Sepla'' means 'marshy' land in the local dialect. It lies on the bank of

Kameng River The Kameng River (previously named Bharali River, now called Kameng in Arunachal Pradesh and Jiabharali (Jia Bharali) in Assam) in the eastern Himalayan mountains, originates in Tawang district from the glacial lake below snow-capped Gori Che ...

with a

helipad A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fa ...

located in the heart of the town. It is located from

Itanagar Itanagar () is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The seat of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, the seat of government of Arunachal Pradesh, and the seat of Gauhati High Court permanent bench at Nahar ...

and from

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities. History Tezpur was under the rule of the Koch dynasty ...

(Assam) connected by motorable road. The village of Seppa has two out of the sixty Vidhan Sabha Constituencies of Arunachal Pradesh. They are Seppa East and Seppa West.

Demographics

As of 2001 India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Seppa had a population of 14,965; males constituted 53% of the population and females 47%; 21% of the population was under 6 years of age; the average literacy rate was 53%—lower than the national average of 59.5%, with 64% male literacy and 41% female literacy.

Media

Seppa has an

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

Relay station known as Akashvani Seppa. It broadcasts on FM frequencies.

Transport

The nearest airways serving the area are Naharlagun Helipad (helicopter) and Holongi Airport (airplane), which are located in Naharlagun and Itanagar. People travelling from international destinations can board flights to Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

, which has connecting flights to Lilabari Airport in Assam, located close to Koloriang. Apst( Arunachal Pradesh state transport) bus services are available from Itanagar via Naharlagun on alternative days.. Presently commuters can also travel to Seppa via Wingers and Tata Sumo agencies. It is on the NH13 which is part of the larger

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 st ...

. A strategic road was constructed by BRO in 2017 in

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 in 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 t ...

, 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 Daporijo is a census town in the Upper Subansiri district in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Demographics As of the 2001 India census, Daporijo had a population of 15,468. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 4 ...

Taliha Taliha is a village in the Upper Subansiri district in Arunachal Pradesh, India. It is one of the 60 constituencies of the Legislative Assembly of Arunachal Pradesh. Taliha is located 32 km north of the district headquarters in Daporijo. A s ...

- Nacho, Taliha-Tato (headquarters of

Shi Yomi district Shi Yomi district is one of the 23 Districts of Arunachal Pradesh, districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India. Shi-Yomi district was created on 9 December 2018 by dividing the West Siang district when northern areas along the Chin ...

is completed, all of which were under construction in February 2021 while facing land acquisition issues, it will provide the strategic frontier connectivity from Seppa-Tamsang Yangfo-Sarili-Koloriang-Sarili-Nacho (and beyond to Daporijo-

Taksing Taksing is a village and headquarters of an eponymous Circle in the Upper Subansiri district, Arunachal Pradesh, India. The region of Taksing is populated by Tagin people. The village is on the bank of the Subansiri River, shortly after the riv ...

)-Tato (and beyond to

Mechuka Mechuka or Menchukha is a town, assembly constituency and subdivision, situated above sea level in the Menchukha Valley of Yargyap Chu/ Siyom River in Shi Yomi district of Arunachal Pradesh state of India. Before the 1950s, Mechuka valley was ...

-Gelling and

Aalo Aalo, formerly Along, is a census town and headquarters of the West Siang district of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is located from Likabali, which is at the border of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. It is also an Advance Landing Gr ...

).Defence committee: action taken report
Parliament of India, 12 Feb 2021.

Places to visit

Nyedar namlo

Women dancing around the sacrificial altar at Nyokum puja

The place of worship of the

Donyi-Polo Donyi Polo is the designation given to the indigenous religion, of animistic and shamanic type, of the Tani and other Indo-Tibetan and Sino-Tibetan peoples of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in Northeast India. The name "Donyi-Polo" means "Sun- ...

religion is situated in the heart of the town. The two-storey building has a hall with a seating capacity of 100 people on the ground floor and the prayer hall is on the first floor. The

sanctum sanctorum The Latin phrase ''sanctum sanctorum'' is a translation of the Hebrew term ''קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים'' (Qṓḏeš HaQŏḏāšîm), literally meaning Holy of Holies, in Latin texts, this generally refers to the holiest place of t ...

holds a white marble figure of the goddess Ane Donyi. The annual Nyokum Yullo, the main festival of the

Nyishi people The Nyishi community is the largest ethnic group in Arunachal Pradesh in north-eastern India. The Nyishi language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family, however, the origin is disputed. Their population of around 300,000 makes them the most popu ...

is celebrated on the Nyokum Lapang Ground adjacent to the namlo.

References

External links

Threat of drought forces tribe to cut down on rice beer in India

East Kameng district Cities and towns in East Kameng district {{ArunachalPradesh-geo-stub