Imphal, December 04: Long forgotten by successive Governments and the babudom, it was left to the members of the Liangmai Naga Katimai Ruangdai (Liangmai Naga Students' Union), Imphal unit and Kuilong zone to tour Kuilong area in Tamei sub-division of Tamenglong district and present the abysmal conditions of the people there to the outside world.

Twenty five people, including members of the student body and media persons were divided into four groups to tour 18 villages for days stretching from five days to one week.

Three groups covered 12 villages (four each) over a period of five days while another group covered 6 villages in one week, starting from November 28.Each team trekked miles every day to cover the villages in their route climbing steep hills and passing through dense forest.

The second team, of which this reporter was part of, first trekked to Lenglong village bordering Peren sub-division in Nagaland from Tamei after covering a distance of 24 kms.

The following day the team trekked 30 kms to reach Dutmong village and on the third day passed Illeng village and returned to Illeng again to spend the night there.

On the fourth day, the team proceeded to Old (Upper) Tabou village and returned to Tamei on the fifth day.

Everywhere the story of neglect was writ large with no motorable roads and the people of Kuilong area are today forced to live in sub-human conditions with no health care facilities and educational infrastructure.

A school at Lenglong has to function without any adequate teachers and what has made matter worse was that the Government has not bothered to depute the replacement of two teachers who have been transferred from the school to be utilised for the SSA scheme.

Almost all the teachers present at the school were matriculate teachers and there was no Science teacher.

Lenglong village secretary N Abubou echoed the people's frustration when he observed that altogether 40 teachers posted at Tamenglong have been requisitioned for the SSA project.

This project has today become some sort of a bane for the students of the district, he lamented.

There was a doctor at the village PHSC for about three months.

But the doctor has since been transferred to Tamei PHC with no replacement.

This in effect means the villagers of Lenglong cannot afford to fall sick! Malaria breaks out annually at Lenglong, said the villagers and added that due to absence of health facilities, nine people died of the disease this year while another 49 have tested positive.

The people of Lenlong yearn for a better Tamei-Konphung road, a bridge over the Barak river and a school with the requisite infrastructure.

The same pathetic story prevailed at Dutmong village too.

The primary school at the village was destroyed by a strong storm in 1998.It was with the remains of the scattered material that the school was repaired and till today the ramshackle building continues to serve as the school to the young students of the area.

The Public Distribution System is something of a joke at this village and so hard pressed are the people that they rely on wooden and bamboo containers to store water as they cannot afford the pots from the market.

Village chairman Kuroubou said that in the absence of any water supply scheme in the village getting potable water is a big problem.

With no proper surface communication network, the villagers cannot take their rich product of oranges, Yongchak, lemon etc to the market for sale, said the villagers.

Earlier there was a bridge connecting the village to Nagaland but that too was dismantled by the security force on security ground and this has made matter all that worse for the villagers.

One silver lining seen at Illeng village was the Solar Panel Set 119 which supplies power to the 1500 inhabitants.

However apart from this there is nothing much to write home about with the school building reduced to the status of a pig sty.

There are also not enough teachers.

Problem of water shortage also abounds.

The Yongchak plants at this village have also started withering, affecting its productivity this year.

Villagers there said that the most needed thing at the moment is a good communication and proper roads so that they market their produce at a profit.

There is not a single Government school at Upper (Old) Tabou village.

However to cater to the needs of about 40 students, the ZEO has deputed a teacher to teach the young students upto Class III at the village club building.

The villagers there desperately want a proper school building so that their children may get the opportunity to learn.

On a somewhat brighter side, there is passenger jeep service and yes power supply too.

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