VIJOYNAGAR (India): Sara Yobin and her two children can distinguish a helicopter from a cargo aircraft, but they have never seen a car or a television set.

Yobin is one of hundreds of tribal villagers living in the remote village of Vijoynagar in India’s eastern frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering Myanmar, who have never been exposed to the outside world.

“I have never seen a motor car in my life but heard that it moves fast on roads. I would love to take a ride once,” Sara said. “I have seen helicopters and other aircraft although I have never gone inside.”

Perched at an altitude of more than 1,200 meters (4,000 feet), Vijoynagar is among scores of villages in Arunachal Pradesh where people have to trek for days through dense jungles to reach the nearest road.

Vijoynagar is a four to five days walk from the nearest motorable point.

Flanked by mountain ridges, Vijoynagar is in a valley with a population of a little more than 7,000. Most of them belong to the small Lisu tribe while others are from the Nepali community. All eke out a living from agriculture.

But for the locals, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has over the years been their friend and saviour, and a vital link to the outside world.

From airdropping essentials to airlifting serious patients in times of emergencies, the IAF’s MI-17 helicopters and AN-32 transport carriers have been doing a service described by locals as “god-sent”.

“My husband died on Thursday following a severe bout of fever and to get his body back I have been waiting for the IAF helicopter to come,” said 42-year-old Ganga Yumkham, a mother of five children.

Ganga’s husband R.S. Yumkham, a constable with the Arunachal Pradesh Police, died at Tezu, bordering China, while on duty.

It would have taken at least six days for Ganga to reach Tezu had she trekked to Miao and then boarded a bus to fetch her husband’s dead body.—AFP