People of Kachai village see silver lining as Govt initiates road renovation work: Chairman
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 30 2019: Kachai Fruit Farming and Processing Co-operative Society Limited Chairman Candit Horam has conveyed that the people of Kachai village in Ukhrul district have found a beacon of hope as the State Government has initiated measures to renovate the road which leads to the Kachai village.

He said that the villagers are happy that the Government has taken up such a positive step to reduce their inconveniences and make their lives better.

Notably, Kachai village is quite popular as the famous Kachai lemon comes from the said village.

Kachai village (with 4000 population) is situated 48 kms away from Ukhrul Headquarters.

People of Kachai village see silver lining as Govt initiates road renovation work: Chairman

Speaking to The Sangai Express, Candit Horam said that many elders in the village have passed away without witnessing a proper motorable road.

However, the State Government, from April this year, has started taking up the renovation work by depositing stones along the road.

He continued that, earlier, it took four to five hours just to reach the Headquarters and the villagers faced innumerable hardships while passing the road, which condition was unpredictable with each passing season or weather condition.

The Government did not give enough attention to repair the road leading to Kachai village before, he told The Sangai Express.

He narrated that Kachai lemon became popular among the people when the villagers started selling the lemons across other villages.

However, the demands could not be met as the only route to bring the lemons was lying in a dilapidated condition.

The people of the State became aware of the fruit after the introduction of Kachai Lemon Festival last year, he said and added that the festival was organised by Kachai Fruit Farming and Processing Co-operative Society Limited under the sponsorship of the Department of Horticulture & Soil Conservation, the Department of Tourism, GoM, NEC, ICAR, MOMA, MACS & RK Fortune Developers Private Limited along with the villagers on January.

Despite organising the festival, the poor condition of the road had posed as the main hindrance from making the festival a success, Candit remarked.

But the villagers are hoping to see a stretch of freshly renovated black road after the end of monsoon as the initial work has been done and only the black topping is left, added the chairman.

Maintaining that only a few of the total population in Kachai works in Government departments, he added that almost all the villagers are engaged into farming like plating Kachai lemons so as to manage their family.

There is one Dispensary in the village with one nurse although there were three doctors before.

As such the villagers , most of the time, check their health at health camps which are usually organised as part of ceremonies and functions.

Candit went on to maintain that most of the elected representatives of Chingai AC, did not bother to visit the village before but after the festival, the representatives are visiting the village which is a good sign.

Earlier, the lemons would go stale and many would be disposed as it was more than enough for the villagers to consume, he said and added that now, people get the opportunity to eat the lemons and the villagers to earn their source of livelihood.

Depending on the production of the lemon, the fruit is sold between the range of Rs 30 to 100 per kg, informed the chairman and the young men and women of the village goes to Ukhrul, Chandel and other places to sell the fruit or the processed pickles of Kachai lemon.

He said that now, the demand for Kachai saplings have become so high that it could not be met this year and added that around 20 metric ton (1000kg) of Kachai lemons are produced in a year, with a household selling 10 to 11 tins of lemon.