Jampui Hills: On June 9, villagers in Tlaksih gathered once again at a place no community wishes to visit repeatedly under such circumstances — the cemetery.
Two more graves were exhumed that day.
With that, the number of graves relocated since the landslides began in 2023 rose to 32. For the affected families, it marked another painful chapter in a crisis that has steadily transformed a century-old settlement in Tripura’s Jampui Hills.
The landslides have not only forced villagers to abandon homes and plantations; they have also compelled them to move the remains of their ancestors.
Tlaksih, a Mizo-majority village nestled in the state’s only hill station, has long been regarded as a place of deep historical and cultural significance. Generations have lived on these slopes, cultivating the land and building a community that produced civil servants, academics, administrators and community leaders whose names remain well known across the Mizo world.
Today, however, the village is increasingly known for a different reason.
Large cracks running through the settlement have divided parts of the village, while sections of land continue to sink. Villagers and local leaders attribute the problem to the construction of National Highway 44A, a major road project passing through the area.
According to local accounts, construction work on the highway began in June 2021. By January 2023, visible cracks had started appearing within the village. What initially seemed like isolated fissures gradually widened, cutting through the settlement in a north-south direction.
Villagers say the damage has continued ever since.
“Half of the village sinks lower by inches every other week,” said Dr Z. Pachuau of Jampui Hills, who has closely followed developments in the area.
He said authorities eventually brought in geologists and other experts to assess the situation. Their findings led to the affected portion of the village being declared uninhabitable because of landslide risks along the cliff edge.
The consequences have been severe.
Twelve families have already vacated their homes. Several houses have been demolished. Crop plantations spread across acres have been damaged. The village cemetery itself has become unsafe, forcing families to exhume and relocate graves.
Even the local government school has not been spared.
According to villagers, a significant portion of the foundation soil supporting the school’s structure has already slipped away. The extent of future damage remains uncertain.
For those still living in Tlaksih, the crisis is not measured merely in statistics. It is reflected in daily decisions about whether homes remain safe, whether fields can still be cultivated and whether the next spell of rain will trigger further movement of the earth beneath their feet.
Many villagers say the uncertainty has become as damaging as the landslides themselves.
“We now feel like we are not residents of Tripura. We have been totally neglected. Our livelihoods and our future have been ruined by the negligence of NHIDCL,” said Albert Zonunmawia, Secretary of the Tlaksih Village Council.
His frustration echoes a sentiment increasingly heard across the affected communities.
Villagers allege that despite repeated representations, they have received neither adequate compensation nor satisfactory assurances regarding long-term safety measures.
Among their major concerns is the absence of durable retaining structures capable of stabilising the vulnerable slopes.
The affected families have repeatedly sought intervention from authorities, arguing that the losses extend far beyond damaged houses.
For many households, plantations represent years of investment and a primary source of income. The destruction of agricultural land therefore carries economic consequences that may last well beyond the physical rehabilitation of the area.
Sources familiar with the situation said around 30 families from Tlaksih and neighbouring Hmunpui village whose properties were affected by the highway construction are still awaiting compensation.
As frustration grows, villagers are considering stronger forms of protest.
Some residents are also preparing to approach the National Green Tribunal’s Eastern Zone Bench, seeking legal intervention over what they describe as environmental damage and inadequate safeguards during project execution.
The dispute highlights a recurring challenge faced by infrastructure projects across India’s fragile hill regions.
Roads promise connectivity, economic opportunities and improved access to remote areas. Yet when engineering decisions intersect with unstable terrain, local communities often bear the consequences.
In Tlaksih, that debate is no longer theoretical.
Villagers speak of development and displacement in the same breath.
The highway that was expected to improve connectivity now stands, in the eyes of many residents, as a symbol of a development process they believe ignored local realities.
The concerns extend beyond Tlaksih itself.
Jampui Hills occupies a unique place in Tripura. Known for its scenic landscape and cooler climate, it remains the state’s only recognised hill station and a major tourism destination.
For local residents, the issue is no longer simply about compensation or engineering corrections. It is about preserving a village that has existed for more than a century.
Tlaksih’s history is deeply woven into the broader story of the region. The village has produced numerous distinguished individuals, including administrators, academics, educators and public servants. Among them were Lalvohliana, an IAS officer; Lalvula, an IRS officer; Captain Zolura; and Khawtinkhuma, remembered as the first Mizo to obtain a Master’s degree.
Others from the village have gone on to serve in universities, government departments and educational institutions across the Northeast.
Their achievements remain a source of pride for the community.
That legacy makes the present crisis particularly painful.
What is at stake, villagers say, is not merely a collection of houses on a hillside but a living settlement with memories, histories and social bonds built over generations.
And in the cemetery, where two more graves were relocated this week, the shifting earth serves as a stark reminder of a community struggling to hold its ground while the land beneath it slowly gives way.
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