KOHIMA: As the road cut-off district Kiphire in Nagaland is facing shortage of essential commodities, altogether seven trucks with 1,500 bags of rice arrived at Kiphire last evening, over 24 hours of journey from Dimapur, 265 km away.
Official sources said that the Kiphire district, bordering Myanmar, had been cut-off after heavy rainfall on July 26 last, had damaged 300 metres of an arterial road in adjoining Phek district.
A diversion was carved out for the trucks after a heavier truck from Jorhat had taken a longer alternative road to deliver rice a few days ago.
In a statement, the Extra Assistant Commissioner (EAC) of Kiphire district Chenithung informed that the rice was being rationed due to scarcity.
"We are rationing only rice," said the young administrator. "Six truckloads of rice are coming from Dimapur. Those are PDS rice being sent by the (Food and) Supply Department with three truckloads of rice coming through Meluri side."
Chenithung said that the worst part was during the last week of July and the first week of August.
Last month, the district administration under the command of EAC Longmatra, Sangpangchang Longkumer arranged fifteen vehicles for students studying in colleges in Kohima and other places, who came for summer break and were stranded because of the landslide.
The premier festival of the Sangtam's starts from today (September 1) and the main programme will be on Monday, September 3. Some truckloads of rice have slowly started coming in. However, Chenithung conceded that the administration was also worried about the imminent retreat of the monsoon.
"That's something which we are worried about," he admitted.
On August 30, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio along with his Cabinet colleagues visited the district and provided Rs. 10 Lakh from the CM's Relief Fund.
According to the State's Disaster Management Authority, the rains have claimed 12 lives since July and displaced 3,000 families across some 400 villages in Nagaland.