Chawmanu (Tripura):As Tripura gears up for second phase of Lok Sabha election on Friday after intense electioneering, poll fever has gripped the erstwhile princely state.
Vidya Kumar Roaja Para, a remote village that falls under East Tripura Lok Sabha constituency, however, is an exception. Far away from the din and bustle of polls, the sleepy village languishes without electricity in this peak summer. The absence of basic healthcare facility and motorable roads only added to the woes of tribal villagers, exposing the 'neglect' of the powers-that-be. Beneath the gloss of capital city, Agartala, dotted with beautiful buildings and towering malls, villagers live in a 'dark age'.
Bikramjoy Tripura, a 'jhumiya' (shifting farmer), who ekes out a humble living at the remote village in Dhalai district of Chawmanu, can hardly think about amenities enjoyed by dwellers of capital city.
He said that politicians come to his village during elections and though their promises remain unfulfilled, people cast their votes with the hope of getting votes. According to him, politicians come to his hamlet during elections promising development , but none of their promises have been fulfilled, yet he will vote in the Lok Sabha elections.
Basic amenities elude villagers
The biggest problem of the village, which is about 62 km away from Ambassa, the district headquarters of Dhalai, is its connectivity as the village has no motorable road from Chawmanu, the block headquarters, he told the PTI reporter covering this remote village visited.
There is no electricity, mobile connectivity or healthcare in our village, he said. “The Lok Sabha elections are coming and we will all vote on April 26, but it will remain a five-year ritual for us as it will not bring any solution to our problems,” the 41-year-old said.
“During monsoon, the village home to 763 jhumia families, all of whom are involved in shifting cultivation, remains cut off from the rest of the state. The road from Chawmanu to Vidya Kumar Roaja Para (Thalcherra) turned into a death trap due to the lack of Jhumia families living in eleven villages have to travel 10 to 20 km on foot to collect the ration for the past few years as there there is no road from Vidya Kumar Roaja para to their villages,” said Bikramjit, a local BJP leader.
“We have smartphones, but we cannot use them because there is no electricity in the village. To charge a mobile we have to travel 10-12 km, close to the Chawmanu block headquarters,” he said.
Chardene Tripura, an elderly woman, echoed the same problems from her native village Vidya Kumar Roaja Para (Thalcherra). “We have not seen our MLA Shambu Lal Chakma for months. He will visit us when the elections come. I hope he will visit our village soon to seek votes,” she said.