Rain plays spoilsport in last leg of Bru resettlement in Tripura

KALALAOGANG: Far from the madding crowd, Kalalaogang was once a desolate forest and barely there was any human presence. Contrary to its previous position, now the area is dotted with small bamboo-made huts and dormitory-like barracks.

Construction works are going on in full swing. The area is set to house as many as 633 families who are among the 34,000 internally displaced Bru migrants being given permanent citizenship of Tripura. However, rain in the last few days has adversely impacted the construction work.

Even as all the Bru families reached their jungle destination, a substantial section of them had to return to the relief camps based out of the Kanchanpur subdivision in North Tripura district as the plot distribution process got a little delayed.

To keep the communication channels open with the local administration, the locals are being deployed to oversee the construction work. Some of the Bru migrants have set up shops on the main road connecting their settlement as a means of livelihood.

Speaking exclusively to ANI, the secretary of the settlement working committee, Remkho Reang predicted that two to three months of additional time might be required for the plot distribution to finish. "As per the records 633 families are supposed to get resettlement. However, they had returned to the respective relief camps as the process is facing a delay because of the heavy showers. The land leveling work is under progress in full swing but as soon as it rains, the construction works are put on hold," he told ANI.

According to the Bru leader, the families had already received the first installment of Rs 50,000 for the construction of houses apart from Rs 4 lakh as fixed deposit certificates and Rs 5,000 monthly cash assistance as per the Rs 600 crore quadripartite agreement.

Reang extended his sincere gratitude to Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the initiatives undertaken to solve the problems of the internally displaced Bru migrants.

It should be noted that the IDP Brus took shelter in six relief camps of Tripura in the year 1997 after ethnic clashes broke out in neighbouring Mizoram. In 2020, the Government of Tripura, the Government of India, the Government of Mizoram, and Bru leaders signed the historic quadripartite agreement that came as a solution to the prolonged issue and Brus became eligible to be called citizens of Tripura.

Tripura-settled Bru migrants on April 19 and 26 cast their mandates in the northeastern state for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls for the first time after they were permanently resettled. The refugees had fled violence in their native Mizoram 27 years ago. They had previously participated in the 2023 Assembly elections in Tripura. In the previous three Lok Sabha polls (2009, 2014 and 2019), the Bru migrants voted as voters of Mizoram. (ANI)

Also read: Bru refugees vote in Tripura for Lok Sabha elections, marking a milestone (sentinelassam.com)

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