Agartala: We may believe that development is both necessary and inevitable, and in most cases, it is true too. Take running water for example. For urban dwellers, not having running water may seem improbable. But in rural areas, it can often be a luxury. So, say, the government initiates the process of connecting a village to a drinking water network, any damage, like the felling of trees to make way for pipes, may be viewed as an acceptable cost.
It is the same in the case of the building, or expansion, of roads and highways. However, for the residents of Tlaksih village located in Tripura’s lone hill station: the Jampui Hills, the cost of a road has been very high.
The Mizo-dominated settlement is over a hundred years old, but over the past one and a half years, it has resembled a ghost village because nearly half of the residents have vacated their homes.
A series of landslides following the construction of the much-hyped National Highway 44A has wreaked havoc in the village, leaving locals with no other option but to vacate their homes.
Speaking exclusively to EastMojo on the issue, Dr Z Pachuau from Jampui Hills said, “Tlaksih village, a small century-old village in the picturesque Jampui Hills, Tripura has borne the brunt of the execution of modern development project…the construction of National Highway 44A, to be specific. The construction work started in June 2021. As a result of the ongoing NH44A construction work, after January 2023m cracks developed in the village, thereby creating a north-south division of the village. The cracks widened each passing day as half of the village sank lower by inches every other week.”
Authorities stepped in and geologists and other experts were called in. The experts finally declared the sinking half of the village ‘uninhabitable due to risk of landslide on cliff edge’ and asked the affected villagers to vacate their homes and properties. As of now, 12 families have vacated their houses (which have already been demolished), 30 graves shifted after exhuming the corpses, and acres of crop plantations damaged, he told Eastmojo.
The damage did not spare the lone school in the village either. More than half of the foundation soil of the school has already been lost.
Talking about the horrific experiences the villagers have been going through, Mr Albert Zonunmawia, Secretary of Tlaksih Village Council said, “We now feel like we are not residents of Tripura. The NHIDCL’s negligence has ruined our livelihoods and future. We have no choice now but to go for a road blockade in upcoming weeks to express our grievances and safeguard our rights and dignity.”
Locals point out that they have not received adequate compensation despite massive loss and suffering. Their efforts to reach the concerned authorities to provide justified compensation went in vain, and safety works like the construction of durable retaining walls were never completed.
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Sources said 30 families from Hmunpui village and Tlaksih village, whose properties have been affected by the highway construction have not yet received their due compensation till date. The distressed villagers are now gearing up themselves with the plan to lodge their complaint to the National Green Tribunal (Eastern Zone).
Various local civil society organisations (CSOs) of Jampui Hill, the only hill station of Tripura and a tourist hub, expressed their concern especially that now being the peak season for the tourism industry, tourism activities of the hill might be affected if the villagers go for a roadblock.
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