Guwahati: A cluster of prefabricated houses for people who have been internally displaced as a result of the ongoing ethnic clashes in Manipur's Thoubal district's Yaithibi Khunou has been completed, though its water supply system is still being installed. The temporary shelter complex for internally displaced people, which will house around 400 families, will be inaugurated within a fortnight after the water supply system is operational, the Manipur Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) said in a press release on Monday.
Manipur Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi visited the construction site on Monday and met with officials from the Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED). According to the release, a water reservoir would be built on the complex's grounds at the Chief Secretary's suggestion by digging a pond.
Some of the over 60,000 people who have been internally displaced in Manipur since May 3 this year and are currently taking refuge at around 351 relief camps in both the valley and hill districts of the strife-torn state have recently been shifted to newly set up prefabricated houses at Imphal East district's Sajiwa, Imphal West district's Sawombung, and Sekmai in Bishnupur district's Kwakta, according to the release.
The temporary shelter complex at Yaithibi Khunou houses a total of 40 units, with 10 families to be accommodated in each unit. As had been done in other such complexes, every house in a unit will comprise two rooms and an attached toilet each to be allotted to a family. Potable water for the units will be supplied through pipes from the overhead plastic water tanks to be installed. Kitchen areas for the families will be provided in separate halls within each unit, it said.
Chief Secretary Joshi expressed his happiness over the prefabricated temporary shelters offering better living spaces for the inmates with more privacy and better sanitation.
According to Thoubal District Commissioner (DC), Subhash Ahanthem, the strife affected victims staying in relief camps in the district, whose houses were totally destroyed in the arson at the border town of Moreh in Tengoupal district and Sugnu and Serou areas in Kakching district would be given priority to shift at the Yaithibi Khunou complex, the DIPR release said.
The Chief Secretary also visited the Khangabok relief camps in the same district, where he interacted with approximately 210 inmates and inquired about their grievances.
He praised the inmates' fortitude and productivity, which has resulted in the production of handicraft and handloom products in collaboration with the Manipur State Rural Livelihood Mission, which is part of the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department.
According to the release, the livelihood project has become a reliable source of income for them during their stay in the relief camp.
The release also stated that, as promised by the government, construction of prefabricated houses has begun in the state's hill districts of Kangpokpi and Churachandpur.