The Mizoram government would move the Centre for extension of the deadline for repatriation of Bru refugees from camps in North Tripura, from October 18 as instructed by the union home ministry to November 18, a senior state home department official said in Aizawl on Wednesday.

Additional secretary for home T V Fambol said that the state government would seek for more time as the deputy commissioner of Mizoram-Tripura border Mamit district had sought it.

The Mamit district administration has been engaged in rescue and relief operations due to natural calamity triggered by faults which threatened the majority of the people in Mamit town, Fambol said.

"As Mamit district is where maximum number of the Bru refugees would be resettled after the repatriation, the district officials engaged almost full time in relief operations are unable to prepare for the repatriation process during October. The monsoon is also still continuing in the state resulting in serious communication problems," he said.

Meanwhile, the joint verification of villages where the refugees were proposed to be resettled was almost complete in Mamit, he said.

Verification would also be conducted on the Mizoram-Assam border Kolasib district and south Mizoram's Lunglei district by NGOs, the Bru Coordination Committee and district officials, he said.

Union home minister P Chidambaram, during his visit to Aizawl on May 25 had urged Bru leaders to ensure that all the refugees should return to Mizoram from Tripura by October end.