Itanagar: The Arunachal Pradesh Bamboo Resources and Development Agency (APBRDA) has urged Centre to provide one time grant-in-aid of Rs 15 crore for regeneration and restocking of bamboo plantation in the gregarious bamboo flowering affected areas of the State. A delegation of APBRDA in a memorandum to Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Tariq Anwar in New Delhi on Saturday pleaded his personal intervention to provide the grant immediately. “Rare gregarious flowering of various species of bamboos, both natural and planted, in nine districts, namely Kurung Kumey, Lower Subansiri, Upper Subansiri, East Siang, West Siang, Upper Siang, East Kameng, West Kameng and Papum Pare has led to serious economic impact on poor rural people due to heavy crop damage by rodents,” the memorandum stated. “The rural people are fully dependent on bamboo for their shelter and for everyday utilities. But the flowering of bamboo has not only caused serious ecological imbalance but also great hardship to the rural communities since bamboo is considered a natural vehicle for development,” it added. Chairman of APBRDA Tanyong Tatak along with NCP Arunachal Pradesh president Kahfa Bengia who led the delegation also discussed with the minister on bamboo flowering and its serious impact on rural economy and ecology. Bamboo forest in Arunachal Pradesh is the highest amongst the Northeastern States and there are about 73 species of bamboo found in the State. The bamboo species which are flowering are Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, Bambusa pallida, Bambusa tulda, Cephalostachyum pergracile, Dendrocalamus sahnii, Chimnobambusa callosa, Schizostachum arunachalensis, and Schizostachyum fushianum.