New Delhi: Rs 250 for a litre of petrol. Rs 5,000 for an LPG cylinder. A 50-kg bag of rice for nearly Rs 3,000. These are the prices many residents of Manipur’s Kangpokpi district say they are paying as a month-and-a-half-long blockade has choked the supply of essential commodities into Kuki-Zo majority areas.Sixteen months after the Union government announced “free movement” in violence-hit Manipur, residents of Kangpokpi say that while people may be allowed to travel under security arrangements, food, fuel and cooking gas are not moving freely. As essential supplies dry up, many now fear that hunger could become the next humanitarian crisis.Also read: Over 30 Houses Torched in Naga-Kuki Clashes Along Manipur’s India-Myanmar BorderThe shortages come amid a month-long blockade imposed by Naga groups, which has disrupted the movement of goods into Kuki-majority areas as tensions between the two communities have escalated. Kangpokpi depends on two major supply routes. One connects the district to Imphal, the capital, through Kanglatongbi, while the other links it to Dimapur in Nagaland through Senapati district.Residents say supplies from both directions have been disrupted, leaving trucks carrying food, fuel and other essentials unable to reach the district.Kangpokpi residents suffer as essential services fail to reach themSince then, for the people living in Kangpokpi, the political dispute has translated into an everyday struggle for survival. In Saikul, a town in Kangpokpi district. With LPG cylinders becoming nearly impossible to obtain, many families have returned to cooking on wood-fired stoves, finding firewood has become part of life’s daily struggles.A family cooks using firewood as the Naga groups’ blockade isolates Kangpokpi from supply lines. Photo by arrangement.For Goupu, a local volunteer who helps residents of Saikul and people living in relief camps, the crisis never ended – it has only entered a new phase lately.“Some use electric induction stoves to cook food, but Saikul power station could not bear the load. And whenever the lights are cut, we lose internet connections – problems on top of problems.”The frequent power cuts combined with LPG cylinders becoming unaffordable is forcing many households to move towards firewood.“Getting a cylinder can cost Rs 5,000, sometimes Rs 6,000, because of the economic blockade for the Kangpokpi district,” says Goupu.According to him, cooking gas supplies have almost completely stopped since May 13.“There has been no [LPG gas] supply in Saikul since May 13. All essential stocks have been exhausted too. There are no gas cylinders, no ration supplies and no petrol or diesel are available either. We could get some essential items with the help of our Muslim and Nepali friends, but at extremely high prices. For example, petrol costs Rs 250 per litre, a gas cylinder costs Rs 5,000 and a 50-kg bag of rice costs Rs 3,000.”Supplies run low in Kangpokpi. Photo by arrangement.Like a spider’s web, the crisis has spread across the entire Kangpokpi district, affecting people from all walks of life. Rahul [name changed], a non-Manipuri who runs a departmental store in Kangpokpi city area, says the current situation is unlike anything he has witnessed since the ethnic violence erupted between the Meitei and Kuki communities in May 2023.“The violence has been going on since 2023 but I had not seen the supply for the food get blocked since then [until now]. What is the government doing?”Restricted movement, plenty of ‘checkpoints’Although Rahul can cross the buffer zone, he says the freedom is heavily restricted.“I can go and buy food for my family from Imphal or anywhere in the state, but I am only allowed to cross the buffer zone with food once a month. If I go twice, Nagas on the buffer zone will not only question me but might keep the entire supply – and I am even afraid of getting beaten.”Also read: Three Injured As Security Forces Allegedly Use Force to End Highway Blockade in Manipur’s KangpokpiIn March 2025, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the resumption of “free movement” across Manipur – though it was to be under security arrangements, he described it as a step towards restoring normalcy. But in Kangpokpi, residents say free movement has not translated into the free movement of essential goods.“I have two employees to pay salaries to, a family and sisters to take care of. I am managing till now but for how long will it continue?” Rahul said.Like Rahul, the situation is no different for Sumi [name changed], who runs a café in Kangpokpi. The shortage of essential supplies has forced her to close her business.“It goes like that: We have chicken but we don’t have rice to make our chicken fried rice! We cannot serve half-cooked food.”Why is everything unaffordable?The Wire spoke to residents to understand why an LPG cylinder costs Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 and petrol is selling for nearly Rs 250 a litre.Restaurants in Kangpokpi, Manipur fall vacant amidst the severe supply crunch since mid-May, 2026. Photo by arrangement.Many said it was because only members of a handful of communities can travel relatively freely between Manipur’s hills and valley. These include the Meitei Pangal, Nepali and some non-Manipuri residents from north India – the so-called mainlanders living in the state.These few communities have now, willy nilly, become intermediaries who purchase goods from Imphal, transport them through the multiple checkpoints and blockades that have come up or become stricter since the conflict, and pay the “informal charges” at many locations along the way before they can reach Kangpokpi in the hills. Every step in the transportation ladder and every “checkpoint” adds to the final cost, and it is the consumers in the hilly district who are paying the price.Also read: Manipur: Blockade on NH2, NSCN-IM Calls Recent Killing of Kukis ‘Unwarranted Intrusion’Essential commodities have become unaffordable for many families. Routine household purchase have become luxuries. Residents say they are exhausting their savings to buy food and fuel, while others fear running out of all savings if supplies do not resume.When will the blockade end?The United Naga Council (UNC), which announced the inter-district economic blockade on May 17, said it will continue.Bodies, suspected to be of six Naga individuals abducted from Kangpokpi on May 13, are brought to JNIMS mortuary, in Imphal, Manipur, June 11, 2026. A day earlier, 14 Kukis abducted in Senapati were released. Photo: PTISpeaking to The Wire, a leader of the council said the blockade would not be withdrawn merely because the bodies of the six Naga civilians who – the organisation alleges – were abducted by Kuki groups and later found dead had been recovered.“The blockade will continue until justice is delivered to the deceased families,” the leader said.When asked about the humanitarian impact of the blockade on Kangpokpi residents, reeling under acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines, the council defended its position.“It is not just Kukis who are suffering; many others who live there are also suffering,” the leader said, arguing that the blockade has affected communities beyond the Kuki population.Meanwhile, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party source told The Wire that following the killing of the six Naga civilians, Union Home Minister Amit Shah was briefed about the incident. According to the source, the Union government was urged to take action against Kuki militant groups operating under the Suspension of Operations agreement, involving armed groups giving up their weapons as part of a planned settlement with the state and Union governments.With no breakthrough in talks and no indication of an end to the blockade, Kangpokpi residents are paying a heavy price for the ethnic conflict and political standoff.