Landslide-hit Chin villagers in urgent need

27 January 2014: Villagers of Lianrih in Falam township, Chin State, are in great need of assistance as they are relocating to a new place following a series of landslides that have put their village in danger.

The victims, estimated to be 164 people of 28 households, face a difficult humanitarian situation in building a new village near Congkua, about 3 miles away.

According to the Chin World Media, the village’s president said in his appeal letter to the Falam District Administration Office that some of the victims were temporarily staying at their relatives’ houses.

The locals said that they had not received any assistance from the government, except for 300,000 Kyats given earlier from the Falam District Administration Office.

They are planning to get water from a place about 8 miles away from the village and to connect electricity to the new village from a hydro-power plant.

The village, which had been moved to a new location in 2000 owing to heavy landslides in 1999, was hardest hit again on 8 October last year.

Recently, a group of youths attending the Falam Youth Conference in Falam had made contributions of blankets, second-hand clothes, and other items to the villagers.#