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Villagers of Manipur's Chadong see ray of hope amid their struggles to survive in new settlement

It's been almost eight years since the village was completely submerged in 2014 by the water released from the Thoubal dam, and they moved to the new settlement site. Amid their struggles to rebuild their lives, the villagers are beginning to see a ray of hope.

ByPhurailatpam Keny Devi

Updated 21 Jan 2022, 4:06 am

Chadong village, Kamjong, Manipur (PHOTO: P Keny Devi_IFP)
Chadong village, Kamjong, Manipur (PHOTO: P Keny Devi_IFP)

 

Surrounded by a large, simmering water body, Chadong village new settlement in Kamjong district of Manipur lies calm and serene, with a population of barely 600 people according to the village record. New tin-roof houses dot the new village slope. A few schools have sprouted up. But the roads still lie bare and unpaved. It's been almost eight years since the village was completely submerged in 2014 by the water released from the Thoubal dam, and they moved to the new settlement site. But the villagers continue to suffer amid the lack of basic infrstructural facilities. However, as they struggle to rebuild their lives, the villagers are now beginning to see a ray of hope.

The Imphal Free Press visited the new settlement site in January 2021 and reported about the long suffering and plight of the villagers who are still deprived of several basic needs and are living below poverty line (BPL). Months after the publication, considering the various grievances faced by the people of Chadong village, a mass enrolment camp for various government programmes and schemes was carried out at the new settlement site in October 2021.

The BJP Kishan Morcha Manipur conducted the mass enrolment camp for various schemes, including health card, labour card, weaver card, yarn passbook, group accidental insurance for fishermen and PMSSY. This enrolment activity was expected to ease the life of the people. But the villagers continue to suffer till today due to lack of basic amenities such as drinking water, healthcare facilities, pucca roads and proper schools.

Living by the waterside, the villagers of Chadong, about two hours drive from Imphal, depend on fishing as a major means of livelihood. They also survive on cultivation of crops, fruits and vegetables. But poor road condition and lack of proper transport system has not made it easy for them to thrive on their source of livelihood.

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However, this time, the villagers heaved a sigh of relief with the expectation that their burden of marketing their produce to neighbouring places will be reduced to some extent following a one-day capacity building workshop on food processing. The workshop, organised by Shubaan Foundation in partnership with Vedam Agro Enterprises was conducted at the village on Wednesday.

The hands-on training in food processing has given them a ray of hope to the 200 households living in Chadong's new settlement site.

One of the woman participants of the training, Nimreichong Kasar, said that villagers have been facing many untold problems since the village got completely submerged in 2014.

“The state government has assured many things, however, maximum of them are not accomplished yet,” she said.

Apart from poor road condition, there is no drinking water facility. Chadong Development Committee chairman Ramthing Kasar had told the Imphal Free Press that the state government started constructing a water supply project five years ago but remains incomplete.

This has coupled their sufferings, Kasar said, while drawing the attention of the authority concerned to address their plight caused by lack of basic needs.

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She also expressed her hope and expectation that conducting such training would help to enhance their income.

 “I have to spend extra money in hiring the vehicle to transport the produced crop. And due to poor condition of road, we have to pay hefty amount of money as transport charges. But now I feel getting this kind of training would really help to ease our burden and help increase my income as the foundation is also going to take care of marketing of the processed food we are going to produce,” Kasar expressed.

S Nandei, founder of Shubaan Foundation, said that the foundation is particularly focussing on economic development of North Eastern states of India. So far, they are working in Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland and their main thrust is to make the NE states self-reliant by promoting suitable crops, handloom, handicraft, eco-tourism and livestock rearing.

He also assured to provide telemedicine healthcare facilities and extend possible effort to develop the road infrastructure of the village.

The Thoubal Multipurpose Project of the Manipur government had caused adverse impact on the surrounding villages, leading to their inundation by the water released from the dam since around 2012. Chadong village was the worst affected in the area as it was completely submerged by the dam water. Around 1,215 hectares of land was submerged and around 22 villages were affected by the said dam, as per official estimation.

During the last visit, the village chairman had told the Imphal Free Press that the village has been demanding the government to fulfill their basic needs as mentioned in the Rehabilitation and Resettlement of Chadong Village framed by the government.

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Tags:

manipurkamjongchadongfood processingnew settlement

Phurailatpam Keny Devi

Phurailatpam Keny Devi

IFP Reporter, IMPHAL, Manipur

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