By T. Gouzadou, Ex-Minister
It is hoped that Tip« makh dam will be a great boon to the people of Manipur. About 20 years have passed since the beginning of this project. However.consteruction works works had not been started till this may, 3 : appears that NEEPCO has completed all the formalities required for commencement of the work except a little complexity. It is not possible to believe that Tipaimukh dam, when completed, what will be the curse of misfortune for the peoples of Ukrul, Senapati, Tamenglong and valley districts of Manipur. It is believable that the dam will not submerge more than 1 percent of the total, Area of Manipur The anti-dam lobbyists may kindly tell us how the dam could be the cause of misfortune for the people, of Manipur, The people of Churachandpur district would like to know it,the reason why the people who do not know the toporaphy of the area and have not seen even Tipaimukh are very much against the damn .If the Hmars who are living in Tipaimukh subdivision are again the dam, it is understandable.
Truly speaking, I have visited-Tipaimukh twice. Witli the Estimate committee I went to Tipaimukh in 1986, and in 1994 when I accompanied Shri P.P.Srivastav, Advisor to Governor of Manipur, We went up to Sipuikon ard visited the site for construction of the dam The villages to be affected are few, and there is no wet rice field to be submerged. The fact that Tipaimukh dam will never submerge any part of valley districts of Manipur is crystal clear, Instead of giving co-operation to the government for success of the Tipaimukh project, some big organisations of the people living in valley districts are deadly against the dam. The reason of their objection is not understandable. Is there any hidden agenda for it? " the anti-dam lobbyists have given us the impression, rightly or wrongly, that they are against the interest of the people of Churachandpur district and against the interest of the Hmar community inv particul.tr. It may not be wrong to say that the objection are nothing but envy-on the part of objectors who do not want to see development in the area. They should look upon the people of the area as their own people. We were happy to hear the slogan CHINGTAM AMATANI. The opportune time has come for all of us to show this beautiful slogan in action. Let us say that our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.
In Churachandpur district, there are a number of. organisations-having their respective representatives. I believe that the main reason why the people. of other districts have poor opinion of the people of Churachandpur district is The fact that the leaders have failed to do what they should do. Whenever we have any problem to be solved by the government, we have to appraoch our MLA's for help because they are our representatives. Instead of approaching them we are eager to take law into our hands by means of bandh, strikes, economic-Blocades and so on. Such kind of agitations give us only misery and immense hardships. Khuga dam is a different case, In 1974, it was taken up. The commencement of the work was started only after 10(ten) years, In fact, it would have been better if this Khuga Multi Purpose Project had not been taken up at all because about 100 wet rice cultivation fields and thousands of acre of village lands are now submerged. About 30 villages are affected. It is a pity that those who were in favour of Khuga dam are now against Tipaimukh dam, Fors and againsts are many, and I want to say that as long as we, the people of Manipur envy one another and try to harm one another we shall continue to move backwards till doomsday.
The Editor,
for favour of publication in public interest
It is hoped that Tip« makh dam will be a great boon to the people of Manipur. About 20 years have passed since the beginning of this project. However.consteruction works works had not been started till this may, 3 : appears that NEEPCO has completed all the formalities required for commencement of the work except a little complexity. It is not possible to believe that Tipaimukh dam, when completed, what will be the curse of misfortune for the peoples of Ukrul, Senapati, Tamenglong and valley districts of Manipur. It is believable that the dam will not submerge more than 1 percent of the total, Area of Manipur The anti-dam lobbyists may kindly tell us how the dam could be the cause of misfortune for the people, of Manipur, The people of Churachandpur district would like to know it,the reason why the people who do not know the toporaphy of the area and have not seen even Tipaimukh are very much against the damn .If the Hmars who are living in Tipaimukh subdivision are again the dam, it is understandable.
Truly speaking, I have visited-Tipaimukh twice. Witli the Estimate committee I went to Tipaimukh in 1986, and in 1994 when I accompanied Shri P.P.Srivastav, Advisor to Governor of Manipur, We went up to Sipuikon ard visited the site for construction of the dam The villages to be affected are few, and there is no wet rice field to be submerged. The fact that Tipaimukh dam will never submerge any part of valley districts of Manipur is crystal clear, Instead of giving co-operation to the government for success of the Tipaimukh project, some big organisations of the people living in valley districts are deadly against the dam. The reason of their objection is not understandable. Is there any hidden agenda for it? " the anti-dam lobbyists have given us the impression, rightly or wrongly, that they are against the interest of the people of Churachandpur district and against the interest of the Hmar community inv particul.tr. It may not be wrong to say that the objection are nothing but envy-on the part of objectors who do not want to see development in the area. They should look upon the people of the area as their own people. We were happy to hear the slogan CHINGTAM AMATANI. The opportune time has come for all of us to show this beautiful slogan in action. Let us say that our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.
In Churachandpur district, there are a number of. organisations-having their respective representatives. I believe that the main reason why the people. of other districts have poor opinion of the people of Churachandpur district is The fact that the leaders have failed to do what they should do. Whenever we have any problem to be solved by the government, we have to appraoch our MLA's for help because they are our representatives. Instead of approaching them we are eager to take law into our hands by means of bandh, strikes, economic-Blocades and so on. Such kind of agitations give us only misery and immense hardships. Khuga dam is a different case, In 1974, it was taken up. The commencement of the work was started only after 10(ten) years, In fact, it would have been better if this Khuga Multi Purpose Project had not been taken up at all because about 100 wet rice cultivation fields and thousands of acre of village lands are now submerged. About 30 villages are affected. It is a pity that those who were in favour of Khuga dam are now against Tipaimukh dam, Fors and againsts are many, and I want to say that as long as we, the people of Manipur envy one another and try to harm one another we shall continue to move backwards till doomsday.
The Editor,
for favour of publication in public interest
1 comment:
We don't belong just to Manipur, but to a much larger world. As a human being, we are responsible for the welfare of our environment and our fellow being. The project may not have direct consequences for us in CCPur District, but as I said before, it will affect us indirectly. We have to stop thinking only for ourselves (pocket!) but think of the greater good.
In case of the Tipaimukh dam, like many other dam around the world, the expected benefits to be derived were not just worth the loses. Apart from that there are many factors that go against the dam. For instances, the proposed site lies too close to the Taithu fault line (remember the recent quake lake caused by the Sichuan earthquake -we don’t need to built one); that it will damage many rare and endangered flora, fauna, orchids and many exotic species of plants, herbs, trees and animals, some of them unique to the area; that the past or present govt. give us no impression at all to make us believe that the affected people will be well rehabilitated and compensated; that the project is an intrusion to the tribal heartland; that no benefits can be expected from the dam as can be seen from Khuga dam, etc. etc.
There are alternatives like smaller dams, wind and solar energy, etc. which require much less capital and not that damaging socially and environmentally. Let us be human again, the suffering and miseries of our fellow beings and the damage to our very own environment can’t be a cause for celebration...
By the way, it’s great to see our leaders coming online, welcome! and we would like you to participate as often as possible in the various discussion forums.
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