Dong Valley
Topic: Latitude, Longitude and Time · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Dong Valley is in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh. It lies near the trijunction, the point where the borders of India, China and Myanmar meet. It is the first place in India to see sunrise, at around 4 a.m. in summer. The earth turns from west to east, so places further east see the sun first. India's far east sees sunrise almost two hours before Kutch in the west, yet the whole country keeps one clock time, Indian Standard Time (IST).
Example
In Dong Valley the sun is up by about 4 a.m. in summer, but offices run on IST and open hours later. So much of the morning daylight goes unused, and evenings need more electricity. That is why the north-east often features in the debate over whether India should have two time zones.
Don't confuse with
- Chai bagaan time: this is the unofficial clock time kept by Assam's tea gardens since British times. It runs about one hour ahead of IST. Dong Valley is a place, while chai bagaan time is a way of keeping time.