Imphal Aug 8 UNA : Reiterating the stand against construction of Tipaimukh dam over the Barak river in Manipur, a one-day convention held here on Thursday urged National Hydro-Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) to shut its office and go back from Manipur immediately.
The convention, while hailing the rejection of forest clearance for the proposed 1500MW Tipaimukh multi-purpose project by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), insist that FAC should desist from granting the forest diversion proposal for the Mizoram part of the Tipaimukh project, observing that this would amount to clear cut violation of the rights of indigenous peoples in Mizoram.
Other resolution adopted by the convention stated that the government of India should fully implement the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams, the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, 2007, ILO convention No. 169 and the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (UN CERD) on Tipaimukh Dam in 2007 and again in 2011. 2).
The Centre should revoke the earlier “Environment Clearance” on the mega project granted on 24 October 2008 as the Forest Advisory Committee of the MoEF, government of India has rejected the forest clearance for Tipaimukh Dam based on its colossal environment and social impacts.
Bangladesh should refrain from compromising on Tipaimukh Dam over Barak river for more water, power and other stakes.
The proceedings of the Indo Bangladesh Sub Group on proposed 1500 MW Tipaimukh dam project should be made open and transparent.
Both India and Bangladesh should respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples along the Barak River and especially the indigenous peoples of Manipur to be fully involved in all decision making on proposed Tipaimukh Dam, as also outlined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Bangladesh should ensure that all decision on Trans-boundary Waters, such as Barak River and Testa River should be carried out with due participation of all indigenous peoples and other communities depending on such rivers.
A holistic impact assessment of the proposed Tipaimukh Dam should be conducted with due participation of all affected communities and their experts both in upstream and downstream of the Barak river, were other resolutions passed by the convention.
The convention on the proposed Tipaimukh Multipurpose Project was held Manipur Press Club today under the aegis of the United NGO Mission Manipur. It was attended by representatives of the civil society organizations, women bodies and other anti dam activists.
Social scientist Dr Dhanabir Laishram who spoke on the topic “Hydro-politics and its Impact in Manipur” stressed at length on the importance of land and its resources to the people saying that land, water, lake, fauna and flora and its resources are associated with people’s legends.
“We cannot simply sacrifice the rich traditions as well as our legends”, he said. Dr Laishram also stressed on the influence of China and Bangladesh to the construction of mega dam project.
“There are many indigenous people in Bangladesh who do not want the mega dam construction at Tipaimukh as they foresee their destructions in the aftermath of the dam, he said.
Regarding Central government’s decision to go ahead with the construction of the Tipaimukh dam in Manipur inspite of strong opposition from all section of the people, Dr Laishram lamented “Colonial ruler always considers the land and resource as commodities.”
President of the Naga Women Union, Aram Panmei said that the land belong to the people and not to the government. The proposed Tipaimukh dam will bring a catastrophic end to the societal relations of the various indigenous tribal inhabiting in the region.
Convenor of Centre for Research and Education (CORE) Dr L Debabrata Roy and social worker M Sobita shared their opinions on the issues surrounding over the Tipaimukh Dam and future steps as well as impact on the dam on the women of the affected area. Chairman of the United NGO Mission Manipur Dr Tamthing Ruivanao expressed concern over the mass deforestation be taken place besides once the dam is constructed.
The Tipaimukh project would have involved felling more than 7.8 million trees and 27,000 bamboo columns in Manipur alone and diverting 22,777.50 hectares of forest land.
The per-megawatt requirement of forest land (16 hectares of forest land per megawatt) for the Tipaimukh project of 1500 MW installed capacity is one of the highest in the world and much higher than the average per mega-watt requirement of forest land for the existing hydel projects in the entire country, he observed.
Similar convention and public consultative held at various places in the state had adopted to stand against the construction of the propose Tipaimukh Multi-purpose Project after threadbare discussion on the environment and other impacts to be given by the dam to be constructed across Barak river in Manipur’s Churachandpur district.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/convention-on-tipaimukh-dam-demands-immediate-shutting-down-of-nhpc-office/
