A scenic village on the Tripura-Mizoram border has found itself at the centre of a jurisdiction dispute between the two states.
Phuldungsai, with a predominantly Mizo population of about 1,064 people, is part of a cluster of 10 villages on Jampui Hills. Betlingchip, Tripura’s highest peak, is in Phuldungsai and is a key tourist destination.
Chandni Chandran, Sub-divisional magistrate of Tripura’s Kanchanpur — under which Phuldungsai falls — wrote to DM (North Tripura), stressing that there is an “urgent need to demarcate the exact boundary between Mizoram and Tripura incorporating the entire Phuldungsai VC in Tripura”.
The SDM wrote that a scrutiny of the electoral roll of Mizoram’s Hacchek constituency found that Phuldungsai village council has been shown under Mizoram’s jurisdiction.
“130 voters in the electoral roll of Zampui Phuldungsai are residents of Tripura. They are present in electoral rolls of Tripura, in ROR of Phuldungsai village council and avail ration facility from Phuldungsai ration shop under Kanchanpur sub-division.
“Traditionally, Phuldungsai VC as a whole (despite eastern side falling in Mizoram) has been accepted as a part of Tripura. Hence, the inclusion of the village council and its residents in Mizoram electoral rolls seems to be problematic,” Chandran wrote.
The issue came to the fore when Tripura’s royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, wrote in a Facebook post that reports of Tripura’s territories being taken away by a neighbouring state (Mizoram) had to be dealt with firmly.
The attempts to demarcate the boundary between Tripura and Mizoram, which were locked in a dispute over resettlement of Bru refugees for decades, have failed in the past, officials said.
The official also said the people living in Phuldungsei village are also not ready to solve the boundary dispute, as they have ration cards of both the states and the taking benefits accordingly.
“People of the eastern side of Phuldungsei have two ration cards and voter ID cards. I think they also voted in the Mizoram 2018 Assembly elections. I went through the electoral roll of Mizoram and identified 130 people who have their names on Tripura’s electoral roll, in ration cards and in other systems as well. Mizoram is illegally putting the names of Tripura residents in their electoral roll,” the official added.
However, sources said more than 200 persons have double ration cards and voter IDs
In 2010, A Dewanjee, then BDO of Jampui Hills block, had in a report said a stretch of land “measuring 2.5 kms starting from the Bettlingchhip peak up to the approach road of BSF camp has been claimed by some people to be under the possession of Mizoram.”
Dewanjee added that when residents approached the Mizoram government, it showed them a “survey map of 1933 AD where the said portion of land was recorded under the state of Mizoram”.
North Tripura district administration officials, however, said Phuldungsai has been listed as a Sabulal autonomous district council village in revenue records of the state for decades.
