Govt apathy maroons Karang island
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 10 2019: Karang Island, the only lake island in the State, situated in the middle of Loktak Lake has been literally marooned by acute shortage of infrastructure and civic amenities.

Located just around 50 kms away from Imphal, a big hoarding of "Khungang Chatsi (Go to Village)", a State Government's mission initiated with the aim of addressing plights and problems of common people greets visitors at the entrance of the island.

In fact, Go to Village mission reached Karang island a few months back.

However, villagers decried Government's apathy towards the grievances of the village, which range from the adverse impact of taking up developmental projects in the Lake to acute shortage of modern infrastructure and civic amenities.

President of Karang Island Development Organization (KIDO) Salam Kheda lamented that tap or potable water is still inaccessible to the villagers of Karang despite the fact that the village is surrounded by water in all directions.

He said that the villagers rely on the Loktak Lake solely for drinking and other purposes while many other villagers informed that infection by water borne diseases, like diarrhoea and skin diseases particularly among children has almost become a routine phenomenon in the village.

Many other villages added that lack of adequate healthcare facilities in the village is another important thing that exacerbates life in Karang Island.

There is a Primary Health Centre (PHC) in the village.

However, villagers asserted that the lack of adequate infrastructure and shortage of manpower in the PHC compels them to go to private hospitals in towns and Government hospitals at Imphal for any kind of treatment.

They maintained that the only thing that the villagers benefit from the PHC is the routine immunization and polio vaccination.

Villagers have to spend a huge amount every time when there is a health problem but most villagers cannot afford the medical expenditures due to their poor economic condition.

Lamenting that there were multiple instances of death of women during delivery in the village, the KIDO president pointed out that absence of transportation facilities, except waterway is a big hurdle to the island.

He went on to express his strong desire to put into action the previous Government's proposal for constructing a hanging bridge which will connect the island with Thanga.

Another important aspect that the villagers highlighted was the island's pathetic educational institutions.

There is a Government Primary School and a Government-aided Junior High School in Karang.

But these schools can no longer meet the requirements of imparting proper education to the villagers.

The Primary School has classes upto 4th standard while the Government-aided school has no 9 and 10 standards.

According to the villagers, students/children who want to pursue class 9 and higher classes have to go to other villages or far off places but majority of the villagers cannot afford the expenditure.

Stressing on the economic aspect of the village, the villagers expressed their strong desire for arranging alternative sources of livelihood by the Government while claiming that the Loktak Hydro Electric Project and Ithai Barrage have severely affected their fishing activity in the Loktak Lake which is the main source of livelihood for all the villagers.

They said that the income generated from fishing in the Loktak Lake can no longer run their families as the population of fishes in the lake has drastically declined owing to the ever increasing siltation, contamination and stagnancy of water.

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