Aizawl. A blockade has been started since this morning on the Silchar-Aizawl highway, the lifeline of Mizoram. Landowners of Kolashiv district have closed the highway for traffic indefinitely.
The land owners have done this blockade in protest against the land being declared a protected forest area without compensation. The declaration of the forest area has created a new crisis for the farmers here in terms of farming and livelihood.
The people here were farming on the vacant land along the highway for the last several decades. Their shops were also located nearby. They also lived there. The state government has recently declared this area as a forest reserve. The farmers have neither been given compensation by the state government. Nor have they been rehabilitated at another place.
Due to the blockade on Silchar-Aizawl highway, 90% of the state’s supply will be affected. There will be a massive crisis of essential commodities. There will be a crisis of petrol and diesel in the entire state. The transporters here have started a strike 3 days ago. The farmers have dug up the road at many places. Due to which there is no movement. No such effort has been made at the government level yet. Which makes it seem that the government is seriously trying to stop the highway jam. A lot of anger is being seen among the local people.