In the Kakoi circle in the Papum Pare district, the primarily Puroik-inhabited villages of Jabam Kabuang, Boginadi, Lali, and Bor-Hill are still without power. According to Waru Nakong Yumta, a young person from the village and the art and culture secretary of the All Puroik Students’ Union, the solar panels that were sent to the villages in 2019 are no longer operational. Waru told this daily that about 9:10 p.m. on Saturday, an elephant demolished a traditional bamboo home. “We could have avoided this situation if there had been electricity,” Waru clarified. If the wild elephants had noticed lights in our houses, they would not have come into our village.
Basic infrastructure is also lacking in the village. In the summer, it is necessary to cross a river to get to the village because there is no road access. Due to the lack of a suitable road, small vehicles—aside from two-wheelers—cannot get to the area, Waru said. There is only one wooden suspension bridge in the village, and it is in terrible shape and becomes hazardous during the monsoon or periods of intense rain. Water facilities are still lacking in Jabam Kabuang hamlet, and the central government’s Jal Jeevan Mission project has not yet reached the village.
