Our Correspondent
IMPHAL, FEBRUARY 10
The 6.8 magnitude powerful earthquake that struck entire Manipur and its neighbouring states with its epicenter in Tamenglong district of Manipur on January 4 morning has damaged as many as 3218 households besides claiming 10 lives and left 120 injured in Manipur alone. There are a total of 5,07,152 households in Manipur(Census 2011).
Senapati district has the maximum number of severely damaged kutcha houses (601) and other infrastructures (55) followed by Tamenglong (6 kutcha houses and 24 infrastructures) and Imphal West (39 kutcha,66 pucca houses and 81 infrastructures) districts.
Disclosing this, state Chief Secretary O Nabakishore told the media here on Wednesday that a total of 416 government and private infrastructures including 248 schools, 106 community assets and market sheds and 62 government buildings were also damaged during the most powerful earthquake in the last 50 years.
“So far a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each was given to the six families of the deceased,” says Nabakishore. “An assessment team centre is expected to visit the state based on a memorandum which will be submitted to the centre soon.”A sum of Rs 8 lakh also sent to IIT Guwahati for test works of iconic Ima market building in Imphal while Rs 2 crores has been sanctioned through MAHUD department for construction works,he added.
At the same time a sum of Rs 10 crores (Rs 5 crores for Senapati, Rs 1.5 crores each for Imphal West and Tamenglong, Rs 1 crore for Imphal East, Rs 50 lakhs each for Bishnupur and Thoubal districts) has been released through the Deputy Commissioners (DC) to provide a compensation of Rs 1 lakh each household in the hills and Rs 90,000 in the valley districts, Nabakishore added.
Reacting to the recent report of shifting Kabui Khullen village, the epicenter of January 4 earthquake, to another site, Chief Secretary clarified that the government has not given any directive to the villagers in this regard.
“We’re yet to get the report from the concerned DC,” he added. “However the government will provide infrastructure requirement to the villagers.”
Villagers of Kabui Khullen which has 58 households, is a tiny hill village under Tousem sub-division in Manipur’s Tamenglong district with a population of about 385, have started to shift at a safer site since Sunday after witnessing many abnormal phenomenon and development of a number cracks in the village.
