Residents of Lei Ingkhol protest eviction, submit memorandum to Governor

Residents of Chingmeirong Lei Ingkhol in Imphal East district staged a protest in front of Raj Bhavan today, demanding the intervention of the Governor against the ongoing eviction process. The protestors, under the banner of the Lei-Inkhol Kanba Lup, also submitted a detailed memorandum highlighting what they termed official bias, fraudulent surveys, false promises, and the denial of viable rehabilitation options that have left them in prolonged deprivation and fear.
The memorandum recalled that Lei Ingkhol village, established in the 1940s by individuals ostracised due to leprosy and tuberculosis, has since grown into a stable suburban settlement. Spread across approximately 22 acres, the village comprises homes, community spaces, ponds, playgrounds, a crematorium, and agricultural patches. As of April 2025, the settlement houses 759 residents in 156 households, with a majority living below the poverty line. Many rely on government schemes such as Antyodaya Anna Yojana and the Priority Household Card.
Residents noted that the village is not an isolated pocket but deeply connected to the wider urban ecosystem. Within a radius of five kilometres, they have access to markets, schools, hospitals, banks, government offices, and transportation links. Disrupting this sustainable ecosystem, they argued, would cause irreparable harm—socially, economically, and psychologically—and contradict the principles of inclusive development, sustainable growth, good governance, and social equity.
The memorandum traced the roots of the crisis to 2005, when the Manipur Cabinet decided to acquire Lei Ingkhol for components of the Capitol Project, including the High Court Complex, without the free, prior, and informed consent of residents. Protests at the time failed to halt the move.
In 2007, the Ministry of Environment granted clearance for only 12.40 acres of PWD land, explicitly excluding residential areas. Yet, in 2010, the High Court complex was expanded to over 30 acres, overlapping with village land, rivulet areas, and community spaces.
Residents alleged that systematic grievances have persisted since then. Eviction notices were repeatedly served—in 2013, 2014, and again in December 2014—without ensuring proper rehabilitation. At one stage, the government proposed resettling affected families at Lamlongei, only to cancel the plan abruptly. In March 2021, 110 affected families were promised small plots at Kamu Yaithibi, but in 2024 this too was cancelled as “unsuitable.” More recent proposals to shift them to barren, remote sites such as Dusara, Langthrei Loukol, and Lamboi Khul have been rejected by the residents as unfit for habitation.
The memorandum condemned the official claim that residents had been “adequately rehabilitated” as false and misleading. It stated that rehabilitation has been marked by coercion, biased surveys, and arbitrary administrative decisions, leaving the vulnerable community without security or dignity.
Appealing to the Governor, the residents sought two key interventions: first, to retrocede the 21 acres of land allotted to the Manipur High Court in 2010; and second, to grant legal entitlement to the current settlement area, ensuring the community’s right to remain in their ancestral home.
The residents urged that their plight be addressed with compassion, justice, and respect for human dignity, warning that displacement without fair alternatives would amount to grave injustice.