Skipe village survives with no power, no internet

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Oct 5 : At a time when even a brief shutdown of the internet service and electricity is unimaginable and causing public outrage, Skipe Village in Kamjong district's extreme border has remained in the dark for ages and has been digitally disconnected for over 2 years.
Forget power shutdown or outages, there are no electric poles and wires. The village is using solar panels for energy.
Forget 5G, 4G or even 3G, there is no mobile network signal in the village.
The Skipe village has an Airtel mobile network tower, but it developed snag and stopped working a little over 2 years ago. It has not been repaired till today.
Situated on the Indo-Myanmar border, Skipe Village falls under Phungyar Assembly Constituency of Kamjong district.
This Tangkhul village has some 28 households.
Speaking to The Sangai Express, the village's chief, Chingsongam said Skipe has a population of around 126.
"Situated along the border, our village has been guarding the Manipur border. But, it has been neglected and ignored on all fronts," Chingsongam said.
The Government's Jal Jeevan Mission has reached the village and is supplying water. Other than this, no other schemes have reached the village, the chief said.
"There is water but no electricity. Televisions, refrigerators and washing machines have no meaning to us when there is no electricity to operate them," he said.
Appeals have been made, but so far no steps have been taken up to bring electricity to the village, he added.
"Around 10 years ago, our village was given some solar panels. For this reason, our village might have been recorded as an electrified village on Government papers. But in reality, the village is not electrified yet," Chingsongam said.
In the absence of proper electricity, the Skipe villagers, the chief said, still depend on the solar panels for lighting and other usages.
For years, the villagers have appealed to the Government to install poles and transformers for electrification. Unfortunately, the Government and its authorities concerned have not taken any steps to bring electricity to the village, Chingsongam said.
While Skipe village remains in the dark, Pillong village-located some 3-4 kilometres away-has been electrified.
"When Pillong village was electrified 3 years ago, we were very happy and we had high hopes that it (electricity) will reach our village too. Unfortunately, this has remained just a dream even today," Chingsongam said.
In absence of electricity, the village is using solar panels.
Many of the solar panels given by the Government years ago have broken down and undergone wear and tear. The villagers have been left with no other choice but to repair and buy new solar panels, which are often very costly, Chingsongam said.
While proper and reliable electricity is of utmost importance, a more immediate need of the villagers is a reliable telecommunication network, the village chief said.
There are solar panels for electricity, but in the absence of a mobile network, the villagers can no longer use mobile phones, Chingsongam said.
An Airtel tower was installed some 5 years ago, but it developed some problems some time later, weakening the network transmission, he said.
While the Airtel mobile network remained weak and unreliable, the villagers fortunately had the option to use Myanmar SIM cards for some time.
But after the violent conflict between Myanmar Junta and rebels intensified, the mobile tower on the Myanmar side shut down--leaving the Skipe villagers without any mobile network, Chingsongam said.
In early 2024, the district's Deputy Commissioner visited and inspected the situation in Skipe village and took note of the absence of mobile network.
Later, on April 23, 2024, a staff of the Airtel visited the village and inspected the mobile network tower.
"After inspecting the tower, the staff went back assuring that he would return with working spare parts and tools to replace and repair the problem. Over a year has passed, but the staff has not returned," Chingsongam said.
To use mobile phones and call someone over the phone, villagers now travel one and half kilometres in search of a stable mobile network, he said, urging authorities to repair the mobile network tower at the earliest.
On education, Chingsongam said the village has a Primary School with two teachers.
The school lacks benches, desks and many other required infrastructure, he added.
While the conflict between the Meitei and Kuki communities has had little impact on the village, many labourers engaged in road construction left, abandoning their works, Chingsongam said.
The road connecting the village to Kangpat Khunou has deteriorated following the recent rainfall, he added.
Due to the crisis in Myanmar, many people from their side took refuge in the village. But most of them have gone back now, Chingsongam said.
The Skipe villagers are primarily cultivators. They are facing difficulties on all fronts. To address and resolve their grievances, the Government must take concrete and immediate steps to provide basic amenities--starting with restoration of mobile network and electrification, he said.
"India can't achieve 100 percent electrification without electrifying Skipe village. The country's flagship mission, Digital India will remain incomplete without connecting Skipe village," Chingsongam said.