Imphal: Postal services have resumed in Manipur’s Churachandpur district, with a mail van entering the area for the first time since ethnic violence erupted in May 2023, officials said on Saturday.
The mail vehicle arrived at the Churachandpur district headquarters around 11:30 a.m. on Friday, delivered letters, parcels, and other consignments, and returned to Imphal at approximately 12:40 p.m.
The regular mail delivery services had remained suspended in the district for more than a year following the outbreak of violence, which had claimed over 260 lives and displaced thousands.
In the aftermath of the violence that broke out between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo communities in Manipur, one of the public services that has been severely affected is the postal service.
No letters or parcels had been reaching the Kuki-Zo areas from Imphal, nor could mail be sent from those areas to the state capital. The disruption in postal services had particularly affected Churachandpur district in the south, along with Tengnoupal and Chandel districts in the southeast.
After the offices were shut down, postal services came to a complete halt and could not return to normal even after more than a year of the crisis. Although occasional efforts, such as transporting mail from Imphal once or twice, were made, regular service remained impossible.
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Officials said the restoration of postal services marks an important step toward re-establishing normal communication and administrative functioning in the conflict-affected region.
