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Dark age still prevails in
Tamenglong and Churachandpur Hills
By Nepram Tombi.Meetei
IMPHAL: "Use the salt and the mustard oil in little quantities otherwise nothing will be left in a few days' time," the ailing mother told her little daughter cooking food in a dirty silver ware. As. soon as she wiped her brows with one hand, a faint cursing escaped her lips. "Darn these insects. Coming all the time as if they could not do without humans." And than she turned to her son who had just returned from hunting on the day's account.
These are the daily accounts people in remote villages located at the Tamenglong and Churachandpur
borders. The rising mountains are home to these people who have little access to the outside world. Here the villages are more worried about salt than meat as procuring them is the hardest task for them.
Recently a group of journalists reached Churachandpur district's Mamong, Maokot and
Molcham village under Henglep subdivision. The team also visited Nongdang, Pungsang and Nungbai village in Tamenglong district.
Most of the villages do not have more
than six families. Give or take a few hours, a one way journey to either Imphal or Churachandpur bazaar takes three days by foot. Ruled by wilderness and gorges with deep falls, the scenery of Nungbai village is exhilarating. The orange fruits planted in rows covering the hill incline make one poke at nature's nose. The ripe fruits added a radiating hue to the greenery of the place.
Villagers said that the fruit would be plucked for sale in 15 days' time. Villagers face a lot of horrid time waiting for the ripening of the fruits. Selling oranges is the only source of income for the villagers. The process of transportation is equally difficult, as they have to carry them to points where vehicles are accessible.
Sometimes they are in a dilemma when buyers demand too less a price after all the hard work. However, the only option is to sell them and return home as fast as they could. The villagers of Maokot, Mamong and
Molcham were in extremely wretched conditions. There was nothing from which they could draw an income. "If we have the, money, there is no place to buy food and even if we have something to sell, there is no market. Barter system is the best here" a hapless villager quipped.
There is complete absence of facilities like medical and education forget about electricity supply. Items like salt, mustard oil, garlic, onion etc are
so scarce that people prefer these things to meat. Ironically the light of education and knowledge are far away from the their minds as they are busy fighting for daily sustenance.
Lunkholam Haokip, the 70 year old chief of Somkong village around 20 kms towards Tamenglong from Mamong said settling in the surrounding villages began only in January this year after they fled their homes during the Naga-Kuki clashes. Around 300 members of 30 families had been residing in Somkong village earlier. However, only around a hundred persons have returned.
Though some are still in Phailen village and Churachandpur bazar, they are not sure of the fate of the others, he said adding that prayer is the last resort for the villagers as they are helpless when clashes broke out.
During the time of elections, polling stations are opened at Somkong, Mamong,
Molcham, Maokot, Jaolin and Moibung villages. The chief 'wanted setting up dispensaries and sub-post offices in these villages, construction of a road connecting all the villages with the mainland and building a bridge on the Sandang river.
Villagers sleep
just as night falls as they do not get kerosene or candles even
besides the absence of electricity supply. Mosquitoes and other insects are abundant here and the villagers suffer, as they cannot afford mosquito nets.
The houses in these villages are adorned with skulls and bones of animals, which the villagers had hunted. The journalists saw villagers carrying a dead deer and shooting dead a Mithun for lunch. "These are- prized catches," a villager confided. But cooking them is a problem due to non-availability of salt and other ingredients. The villagers are content with simple boiled meat in a show of their simple lives.
(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)
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