Majuli: Once famous for their rich dairy products and exotic fish, the riverine villages of Lohit Khabalu, inhabited mostly by Mising communities, continue to battle isolation and hardship even after being transferred from Lakhimpur to Majuli district in December 2021.
Separated from mainland Lakhimpur by the Subansiri and Lohit streams of the Brahmaputra, the region’s 27 villages—home to nearly 30,000 people—suffer from poor road and bridge connectivity, crippling access to healthcare, education, and emergency services.
Three fragile wooden bridges—the Kharjanpar-Naragaon bridge and two Garamur-Patharichuk bridges—are the only links connecting Lohit Khabalu to Majuli. Their dilapidated state forces villagers to carry patients in bamboo stretchers, hand-pulled carts, and even tractor trailers to the 200-bed Sri Sri Pitambar Dev Goswami State Hospital at Garamur, just four kilometres away. The journey, however, often turns deadly during monsoons when roads become muddy and impassable.
Also Read: Dr. Ronghang leads historic Land Patta Initiative
Over the years, tragic incidents have become common—patients dying mid-transport, women delivering babies under open skies, and children succumbing to snakebites due to delays in treatment. In one such case in 2018, a retired school headmaster, Sashidhar Payeng, died on a hand-oared boat while being ferried to hospital.
Adding to their misery, riverbank erosion and siltation have eroded farmlands and destroyed livelihoods, pushing many Mising youths to migrate. Despite administrative changes, Lohit Khabalu’s residents say their struggle for basic connectivity and survival remains unchanged.
