Backward Kwatha village yearns for Govt attention
Source: Chronicle News Service / Premchand Thongam
Imphal, August 05 2021:
Kwatha village which is an Indo-Myanmar border hamlet and mainly inhabited by Meetei is facing an unprecedented situation in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic.
The villagers shared their problems faced during the pandemic to journalists who accompanied Planning Board deputy chairperson MLA Lou-rembam Rameshwar during the latter's visit to the village on August 2 to hand over edibles and medicines.
There are around 78 households in Kwatha Khunjao with a population of around 500 people while in Kwatha Khunou there are around 12 households.
Most people of Kwatha Khunjao sustain livelihood by producing charcoal and fermenting bamboo shoots.
There is no other source of income generation other than the two activities.
During the first wave of Covid-19, 30 people were infected by the virus.
But in the second wave, 20 people have been found positive for Covid-19 till now.
People showing Covid symptoms have to go to Moreh hospital for the simplest task of conducting the test.
However, the reaching the nearest testing centre remains a challenging task as there is no public transport service from the village to Moreh with limited number of private vehicles in the village compounding hardships of the villagers.
"Most of the Covid positive patients are kept in quarantine centre set up in the Church hall while some undergo home isolation.
Panic grips the villagers whenever one tests positive for Covid-19 due to lack of healthcare facility," said village secretary Takhellambam Sanjoy.
Pointing out that there is no fatalities due to Covid from the village, Sanjoy said that every eligible people of the village have been administered Covid first dose.
In official record there is a doctor and a nurse assigned for Kwatha Primary Health Centre but the doctor rarely comes to the centre because of the pandemic.
As such, the villagers are facing serious inconveniences when they want to consult the doctor if villager(s) showed Covid symptoms.
Even though a person is suspected to be infected by Covid, there is no ambulance to carry him/her, he lamented.
Recalling that former Rajya Sabha MP Ksh Bhabananda declared Kwatha as adopted village during his period, Sanjoy said that a shed for Meira Paibi was constructed during that time.
However, the water reservoir is yet to be inaugurated.
There is no other developmental project taken up by the government other than the two.
He also opined that construction of road leading to the village from the National Highway is not as per the prescribed work quality and regretted that the locals' appeal for maintaining quality control is yet to generate positive response from the government.
Generally, it takes two hours to travel on foot from Kwatha Khunjao to Kwatha Khunnou which is around 5 km.
Contending that the local MLA remains invisible with exception of election time, he also said that people are not aware about the various schemes launched and implemented by the central government.
Even the free food grains provided by the government to its people are not made available to the villagers regularly while only 2-3 kg rice is distributed to each household whenever there is distribution of the PDS item, he maintained.
The secretary also revealed that villagers have pool money to hire vehicle for transportation of their entitled food grains.
He also informed that the village periodically organises Lai Haraoba festivals during which people from various parts of the state and tourists visit the village.
However, absence of a compatible guest house seems to be deterring the tourists from visiting the village, he observed.
While urging the state government to build a guest house in the village, Sanjoy exhorted the state government to remember that its citizens are residing in Kwatha village.
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