With highways cut off, Kuki residents face soaring prices and dwindling essentials amid fears of prolonged crisis
By Lulun Haokip — Kukiland Express Desk
Songpi, June 13, 2026: A blockade by Naga groups on key highways has triggered an acute supply crisis in Kangpokpi district, where Kuki residents now pay Rs 230 for a litre of petrol and Rs 5,000 for an LPG cylinder. The economic chokehold has deepened hardship in the hill district, already reeling from months of ethnic strife and displacement.
The blockade, imposed along National Highway-2 and National Highway-37, began last week after fresh tensions between communities. With trucks barred from entering Kuki-majority areas, fuel stations have run dry and black-market rates have surged. Local shopkeepers say stockpiles of rice, cooking oil, and medicines are also thinning fast.
Residents describe scenes of desperation at the few outlets still operating. Queues stretch for hours before dawn, with many returning empty-handed. “We are rationing every drop of fuel and every grain of rice,” said Lamminlal Haokip, a schoolteacher in Kangpokpi town. “If this continues, we will not survive the monsoon.”
Transporters have halted operations, citing safety fears and extortion demands. The All Manipur Road Transport Drivers’ and Motor Workers’ Union confirmed that no commercial vehicles are plying the Imphal-Dimapur route through Kangpokpi. Without goods carriers, wholesalers cannot restock and hospitals warn of impending drug shortages.
The price spike has hit household kitchens hardest. An LPG refill, normally Rs 1,100, is now sold at nearly five times the rate in private sales. Families say they are reverting to firewood, raising health and deforestation concerns. Daily wage earners, unable to afford transport, are losing work and income.
District officials acknowledge the crisis but say administrative reach is limited while the blockade holds. Security convoys for essentials have been proposed, but community leaders argue that movement without a political breakthrough risks more violence. Previous attempts to escort trucks under armed guard have ended in standoffs.
Civil society groups in Kangpokpi have appealed for neutral corridors to ensure food and medicine reach civilians. “This is not about sides. People are starving,” said a spokesperson for the Committee on Tribal Unity. They warn that prolonged scarcity could trigger unrest and a public health emergency as water-borne diseases rise with the rains.
For now, the district waits. With petrol unaffordable, bikes and cars lie idle. With LPG out of reach, hearths grow cold. The blockade has turned everyday survival into a negotiation, and residents fear that without urgent intervention, Kangpokpi’s humanitarian situation will collapse before any political settlement arrives.
