Some parts of Manipur have been struggling to receive a regular supply of groceries and other goods for over a month as unrest in the state turned into a three-way conflict, with blockades on multiple sides choking the flow of supplies.
The starkest example of this currently is the Kuki-Zo-majority Kangpokpi district. The major route for goods to come into the district starts from Dimapur in Nagaland and passes through Manipur’s Naga-majority Senapati district or Meitei-majority Imphal.
With the conflict in the state widening from one that started in 2023 between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities to the latest escalations between the Kuki-Zo and Naga communities, the route to Kangpokpi faces issues on multiple fronts. Naga groups in both Senapati and the state capital have blocked the plying of goods vehicles into Kangpokpi.
The current set of blockades began after tensions flared on May 13, with the killing of three Kuki-Zo church leaders in Kangpokpi, which was followed by a mass taking of hostages on both sides. This culminated in six Naga hostages being found killed earlier this month.
During this time, blockades and shutdowns were called by both sides, but Kuki-Zo groups in Kangpokpi found that they were the worst affected by this network of blockades. The complete blockades were subsequently called off, but a United Naga Council leader said the community’s “economic blockade” against Kuki-Zos is still ongoing.
‘No supply for a month’
A wholesale distributor in Kangpokpi, who did not want to be identified, said, “There are no goods — no sugar, salt, aloo (potatoes) or pyaaz (onions). We had some stock, and shops made that last for about a month. We didn’t allow panic buying and distributed and sold items according to people’s needs. But that stock has also finished, except for items that sell less, like confectionery. It has been over for about 20 days now, our supply hasn’t come in since May 13.”
He said that petrol is being sold at Rs 300 per litre in bottles in the town, and LPG cylinders for between Rs 3,500 and Rs 4,000.
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The last time he had stock to sell, the wholesaler said, was a couple of days ago, when Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen, who is an MLA from the district, facilitated the arrival of 640 bags — 50 kg each — of rice.
“Normally, these kinds of bags are sold for around Rs 1,800 each, but these were sold for Rs 2,000 because of additional logistical expenses,” said the distributor.
A district administration official said that they received a consignment of rice with the help of the three MLAs representing the district, of which 40-50 quintals were distributed to each Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) on Friday, to be sold through distributors. He said that a truck of LPG cylinders also arrived for ration card holders on Friday.
“We have received an amount of rice, with the assistance of the MLAs and transported by the security forces, but I cannot say that it is enough food supplies,” he said.
Healthcare access hit
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The challenge in movement is also affecting access to healthcare. With the district hospital’s limited facilities, patients requiring further treatment would earlier travel to Imphal, and later, after the start of the conflict between Meitieis and Kuki-Zos, to Kohima by road.
“Now if there are serious patients, they contact the relevant SDO in charge of the area to facilitate their movement in an Army convoy to Imphal, which is being done every two to three days,” said the official.
Some parts of the district are even more cut off. For instance, the Leimakhong area of the district does not have access to the district headquarters because that requires crossing through Naga settlements.
A non-Manipuri shop-owner in the area said that as people who are not party to the conflict, other shop-owners like him are being allowed to get some supplies for their own families, but not to sell in their stores.
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“We have small shops so we would go to Imphal every day to get supplies for our shops — everything from chicken and fish to medicines. Now, we are being allowed to bring just 5-10 kg of supplies, enough for our families. There has been no supply for our shops since mid-May, and there is nothing to sell,” he said.
Effect on Ukhrul
The blockading had also affected Naga-majority Ukhrul, where the route for goods from Imphal entails crossing two stretches of Kuki-Zo settlements. In fact, amid tensions over blockading on this route by Kuki-Zo groups, a truck driver had been killed when a convoy of goods trucks moving with security cover on this route to the Ukhrul district headquarters had been attacked on May 29.
“There is no blockade as of now on this road, and goods are moving with security escort,” said a police officer in Ukhrul.