Agartala: The cloud of uncertainty hovering over the Bru resettlement pact seem to be getting cleared as the Bru community heads have relented to the state government’s proposal and submitted a final list of about 2,500 families still staying in relief camps in North Tripura district.
“The list reached us on August 31 and it is being reviewed now. Their resettlement will be processed as per the quadripartite pact within a few days,” SDM Kanchanpur Subhash Acharya told EastMojo.
According to the official, the Bru leaders have finally conceded to the Tripura government’s proposal for the relocation sites, bringing the long drawn resettlement process to a resolution.
“The Bru leaders were initially reluctant to submit the final list as they did not want to move out of the Kanchanpur sub-division. The administration served an ultimatum of August 31 and accordingly the matter has been resolved,” said Acharya.
Last month, EastMojo had reported that thousands of internally-displaced Bru migrants refused to vacate the relief camps as they did not feel they could settle or be comfortable at the sites allocated to them.
About 2,000 Bru families had refused to sign the consent paper, which is a prerequisite to start the resettlement process, making it difficult for the government machinery to complete the resettlement process within the stipulated time. The Bru community was given the August 31 deadline by the state government to sign the consent papers and submit to the sub-divisional administration.
Bru leader Bruno Msha said, “All the documents have been submitted and there is no interruption in the ration being served to the displaced Brus living in relief camps.”
The quadripartite agreement between Tripura, Mizoram, Bru leaders and the Central Government was signed on January 16, 2020 almost 23 years after members of the Bru community fled from neighbouring Mizoram to seek shelter in Tripura’s north district. They were staying at six relief camps located within the limits of Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-division under North Tripura district.
The displacement of Brus is still considered to be one of the biggest displacements of the North East region.
After the quadripartite agreement, a total of 6,159 families were found eligible for permanent settlement. While the total population of Brus stands at 37,136, a total of 3,332 families have been resettled so far. Related construction works such as setting up health sub-centres, Anganwadi Centres, installation of solar power plants etc. are in progress at all the selected locations.
Also read | Tripura: Thousands of Bru migrants refuse to vacate relief camps