Hundreds of residents of Jampui Hill have gathered at Jampui Hill RD Block area in Vanghmun under the banner of ‘Save Tlaksih Village’ and submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the BDO Nabarun Chakraborty, today.
Tlaksih, a picturesque century-old village in Jampui Hill bears the brunt of negative consequences of construction of NH44A, with eastern half of the village sliding and sinking and developing further cracks since a year ago, making it inhabitable.
Fourteen houses have been already damaged and abandoned, about seven acres of plantation crops have been destroyed, thirty graves have been damaged and the villagers have to re-bury the mortal remains of their loved ones in a makeshift donated land, causing tremendous emotional pains.
The lone government school of the village is also affected by the slide and has to be abandoned.
The only approach road towards the village centre is too steep and curvy, and now also develops cracks and is dangerous for vehicle movements. No adequate rehabilitative and relief measures have been given to the affected families.
Many families of Tlaksih village and Hmunpui village have not been given their rightful compensation which is due to them, even up to this day.
As this year’s monsoon rains continue to pour down, the cracks continue to widen, expand and the intermittent land slips go on faster pace. An impending disaster, worst of its kind any moment looms large.
Anything can happen any moment on Tlaksih Village.
Some efforts and actions have been taken in the past, which unfortunately have not yet solved the core issues and problems of Tlaksih villagers or yielded tangible results.
Worried and tense the Tlaksih Villagers on Friday held a public rally and puts forward eleven-point memorandum to Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha.
Demands among others have included , a compensation and relief in line with the real value of the damaged and lost properties to families who lost their houses and properties, families whose lands and plantation crops are destroyed, families currently still living in the land slip prone areas so that they can safely shift to a safer location as soon as possible, families of Hmunpui and Tlaksih villages whose lands, crops and houses along Hmunpui-Kanchanpur segment (Package 3) are damaged by the construction of NH-44A. And all these compensations must be given as soon as possible to the families within Tlaksih village area from whom additional land acquirement was made. They also demanded rebuilding the whole Tlaksih village as a ‘Model Village’ through funds from Central Government as a special package and to construct a gravity retaining wall at high risk areas, soon during the next dry season.
The memo was signed by President and Secretary of Tlaksih Village Council, President and General Secretary of Youth Wing of Mizo Convention, the organisation that spearheaded today’s rally, and also countersigned by President and General Secretary of Jampui Hill Mizo Convention.
Talking to Tripura Times, Dr Zairemthiama Pachuau, General Secretary of Jampui Hill Mizo Convention exhorted the gravity of the physical damages and the emotional tolls caused to the villagers by the man-made disaster, and also states, “We are glad we have the rally in a peaceful manner under a clear blue sky, a sign which I hope is an indication that the Honourable CM will seriously consider our points and immediately coordinate actions that adequately solve, once and for all, the woes of Tlaksih villagers and of significant number of families of Hmunpui village too. We have faith in him because as the ‘father’ of our state he has the intellectual capacity, the moral obligation, and the legal and constitutional authority to delegate and assign responsibilities to appropriate offices, departments and institutions for actions.”
