One year later, Chin landslide victims wary of promises still yet to be fulfilled
One year after landslides ravaged northern Chin State, and geologists recommended a relocation of the state capital, little on the ground has changed, residents say. Election promises of resettlement by Christmas were largely unmet, and families eventually moved into the new dwellings continue to lack electricity or water. The rain-triggered landslides that struck in July 2015 swept away 7000 houses and pushed more than 4000 people from Hakha into temporary displacement camps. The state government began rebuilding homes along the Hakha-Falam highway, near the new compound of ministerial houses, soon after the disaster. But despite an estimated completion date of December last year, state authorities have still yet to finalise the planned 732 replacement houses in the state capital, or build the accompanying infrastructure, such as a hospital and schools.
