By Express News Service
GUWAHATI: In all, 515 displaced Brus were moved out of their camps in the North Tripura district and sent to two locations in Dhalai district in the state on Monday as a part of the permanent resettlement of the refugees.
A quadripartite agreement was signed among the Bru leaders and Central, Tripura, and Mizoram governments in January last year for the resettlement of some 35,000 Brus from Mizoram.
The refugees will be resettled at 16 places in four districts. Earlier, the Tripura government had constituted four committees to oversee resettlement.
The refugees have been lodged in six camps in Kanchanpur of North Tripura district since 1997 after they had fled Mizoram in the wake of ethnic tensions.
Official sources said the first batch of refugees was being resettled under Ambassa and Longtharai Valley sub-divisions in the Dhalai district.
“They are being transported to the new places. For the time being, they will stay in makeshift houses in Ambassa and Longtharai Valley sub-divisions,” official sources said.
They said water, electricity, and other basic amenities were being arranged by the government.
As per the quadripartite pact, the Centre will bear the expenditure of the refugees’ resettlement. Each refugee family will get a plot of land, a fixed deposit of Rs 4 lakh, a free ration, and a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000 for two years. Also, the families will be provided Rs 1.5 lakh each so they can build a house.