Affected land owners of Khongnem Thana to launch stir
Source: Chronicle News Service

Senapati, May 25 2021: Irked over the delay in payment of land compensation, the affected land owners of Khongnem Thana village in Senapati district, along with the village authorities on Tuesday decided to launch an intense democratic agitation if no concrete steps were taken to meet their demand before June 10, 2021 .

Briefing media persons in this regard, Khongnem Thana village secretary A Peter Krechena stated that a major landslide at Khongnem Thana village along the NH-2 took place on October 23, 2020 cutting off the main lifeline of the state for four days.

Many officials including additional chief secretary (works), engineers of PWD and BIPL, and the district administration led by DC Senapati held a meeting with the affected land owners, village chairman and others on October 24, 2020 at Khongnem Thana village.

Measurement of land and plots along with standing properties were carried out after the meeting that led to an agreement for payment of land compensation at the rate of Rs 230 per square feet.

Evaluation of standing properties was also conducted on the next day, he said.

The village secretary maintained that the state government's representatives led by DC Senapati gave an assurance that the compensation will be given/released within the time frame of 45 days starting from October 24, 2020 .

But 185 days have lapsed since the stipulated time frame but there has been no communication from the DC office or state government despite repeated enquiries and pleas made by the villagers.

The government is fully aware that NH-2 is the lifeline of Manipur, he added.

The affected parties along with the village authorities have finally decided to launch intense form of agitation with no other means to address their grievances.

The government will be solely responsible for any untoward incident occurred because of the agitation, the village secretary warned.

According to villagers' source, a temporary tent was made for different five affected families whose houses were reportedly dismantled to clear the path for restoration of the highway above the landslide area.

With the coming of the monsoon season, the villagers are worried how those families would survive in the rain without receiving any compensation.

In the larger interest of the public, the villagers also urged all the civil organisations of the district including Naga People's Organisation (NPO), Senapati District Students' Association (SDSA), Senapati District Women's Association (SDWA), Mao Students' Union (MSU) and Mao Council (MC) to extend their cooperation and support to the cause of the affected land owners.

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