Starting a festival like OFAM in such a remote village is nothing sort of a daring dream: Motorsports Club of Arunachal

Dambuk, AP, Dec 26 (IANS) Till a few years ago, the picturesque Dambuk village sprawling by the banks of the Dibang River in Arunachal Pradesh's Lower Dibang Valley would remain cut off from the rest of the country, and the world, for nearly eight months a year.

The North-Eastern state bordering Tibet receives copious amount of rain for nearly eight months a year. Consequently, the swollen rivers around Dambuk would render this small town virtually inaccessible. Dambuk, for all practical purposes, remained like an island reachable only by boats for most of the year.

Things were not easier during the dry winter months either. Absence of bridges spanning the rivers meant arduous drive through boulder and rock-strewn treacherous river beds. Driving to Dambuk from Assam meant taking one's vehicle across the Brahmaputra on a ferry to land at Pasighat and then embarking on a gruelling drive over riverbeds, dirt tracks through hills and rickety bamboo bridges over fast-flowing streams.

The journey from Dibrugarh, the nearest airport in Assam, to Dambuk was a nearly day-long adventure.

Today, it takes barely three hours to drive down through smooth highways and a nearly six-kilometre-long bridge across the Dibang river to reach Dambuk from Dibrugarh. From Pasighat, which has a functional airport now, the 60-kilometre distance can be covered in about an hour.

Connectivity to this remote part of North-East India has developed following a considerable advancement in infrastructure in recent years owing mostly to the annual Orange Festival of Adventure & Music (OFAM) at Dambuk that started way back in 2014 with support from JK Tyre.

It became a festival to lookout for within a very short span of time, drawing musicians, music lovers, adventure seekers, off-roaders, revellers and large media contingents from across the country. This year witnessed bands from across the globe namely Romeo Blanco from Belgium, Swanky Tunes from Russia, Big Mountain, Flypside from USA along with national bands like Still Waters from Sikkim, Kayan from Mumbai to name a few.

The recently-concluded eighth edition of the JK Tyre Orange 4x4 Fury saw renewed zeal and enthusiasm from more than 20 off-roaders from across India putting their skills and machines to ultimate test. Stunning everyone, it was the pair of Marnya Chiram and Mari Basar from Arunachal Pradesh, who lifted the coveted champions trophy with their stellar performance in their Maruti Gypsy.

53-year-old Marnya, who works as a Superintendent Engineer in the Public Health Engineering Department, AP, was the eldest participant in this years edition.

Held across three stages, the first stage on December 16 morning involved a five-kilometre run through the dry bed of the eastern bank of the migh

The second stage the same afternoon was on the western bank of the Dibang. Competitors had to once again negotiate the river bed, cross a shallow stream of the river and then take the dirt tracks through dense forests.

The third stage on the bed of the Sisseri river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, was the highlight of the event. The 22-kilometre drive on the dry riverbed strewn with huge boulders the size of SUVs, rocks and sand, was the ultimate test of the competitors' skills and endurance.

The champions Marnya Chiram and Mari Basar accumulated only 136 penalty points at the end of the three stages.

In the above 2000 cc category, the pair of Devjyoti Borah and Sandeep Gogoi took the win in their Gurkha, while Pankaj Kar and Suranj Saha followed in the second spot in another Gurkha. Jaong Singpho and Mili Sanjay came third in this category.

In the below 2000 cc category, Marnya Chiram and Mari Basar emerged winners while the team of Nabam Katung and Rubu Tanjang were the first runner up. The third position was held by Jaong Singpho and Mili Sanjay.

Lhakpa Tsering, President of the Motorsports Club of Arunachal, and one of the directors of OFAM, said, "Starting a festival like OFAM in such a remote village is nothing sort of a daring dream. JK Tyre has been with us from the very beginning in making that dream a reality, and also ensuring in making it big. From only one government bungalow to an overflow of accommodation, the festival has come a full circle. We're grateful to the entire JK Tyre team for believing in us and our place and making the JK Tyre Orange 4x4 Fury a renowned event for motorsports lovers all over the world. With this event, locals from not only Arunachal Pradesh, but from the entire North-East are now taking up the sport professionally."