Enlivening a Fading Culture: A Dayak Experience in Borneo

By Jiten Yumnam In a July end afternoon of 2017 at Linga Ambawang village along the Samak River in West Kalimantan in Indonesian side of Borneo Island, around one hundred Dayak children and youths conglomerate inside the traditional school, built similarly to Dayak’s long house, to learn indigenous traditional knowledge from their elders. The Dayak […]

By Jiten Yumnam In a July end afternoon of 2017 at Linga Ambawang village along the Samak River in West Kalimantan in Indonesian side of Borneo Island, around one hundred Dayak children and youths conglomerate inside the traditional school, built similarly to Dayak’s long house, to learn indigenous traditional knowledge from their elders. The Dayak […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2018/01/enlivening-a-fading-culture-a-dayak-experience-in-borneo/

Fallacies Of 66 MW Loktak Downstream Hep Project In Manipur

By: Jiten Yumnam The Rivers meandering through the forest and the lush green terrains are one of outstanding natural heritages of Manipur aggressively targeted for power generation by multinational corporations. The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), two of India’s leading dam building Company has aggressively been involved […]

By: Jiten Yumnam The Rivers meandering through the forest and the lush green terrains are one of outstanding natural heritages of Manipur aggressively targeted for power generation by multinational corporations. The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), two of India’s leading dam building Company has aggressively been involved […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2017/12/fallacies-of-66-mw-loktak-downstream-hep-project-in-manipur/

Armed Conflict, Militarization & Implications in Manipur

By: Jiten Yumnam In November 2017, Nagaland and Manipur, two states in India’s North East with ongoing indigenous peoples’ Self Determination movement witnessed the extension of Disturbed Area, a precondition for promulgation of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA, 1958 (AFSPA, 1958), permitting the suspension of non derogable rights, like the ‘Right to […]

By: Jiten Yumnam In November 2017, Nagaland and Manipur, two states in India’s North East with ongoing indigenous peoples’ Self Determination movement witnessed the extension of Disturbed Area, a precondition for promulgation of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA, 1958 (AFSPA, 1958), permitting the suspension of non derogable rights, like the ‘Right to […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2017/12/armed-conflict-militarization-implications-in-manipur/

Mining & indigenous rights concerns in Manipur

The North East Business Summit concluded recently from 21st till 22nd November 2017 in Imphal is unique for Manipur given the scope and enormity of investments announced during the summit. At least Thirty Nine (39) MoUs were signed with various compani…

The North East Business Summit concluded recently from 21st till 22nd November 2017 in Imphal is unique for Manipur given the scope and enormity of investments announced during the summit. At least Thirty Nine (39) MoUs were signed with various companies and States of South East Asian and European countries. The Manipur government referring to the MoUs, announced business investment worth Rs 5,000 crore from the two-day summit, including an oil pipeline from Numaligarh to Imphal via Nagaland, setting up private universities, establishment of private hospitals, to commence chromium and limestone mining in Manipur etc. The details of the MOUs are still concealed from the people of Manipur. Earlier, the Government of India and Government of Manipur signed MoUs for road building with loan from the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The post Mining & indigenous rights concerns in Manipur appeared first on The Sangai Express.

Read more / Original news source: http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/mining-indigenous-rights-concerns-manipur/

Ignored realities: Downstream impacts of Mapithel dam

Jiten Yumnam Manipur of late, has seen several development processes targeting the land and natural resources of Manipur. Many of these development processes, both policies and specific projects are afflicted with larger social and environment challenges apart from longstanding and intergenerational impacts. In most situations, many of the impacts remain neglected or deliberately ignored. The […]

Jiten Yumnam Manipur of late, has seen several development processes targeting the land and natural resources of Manipur. Many of these development processes, both policies and specific projects are afflicted with larger social and environment challenges apart from longstanding and intergenerational impacts. In most situations, many of the impacts remain neglected or deliberately ignored. The […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2017/11/ignored-realities-downstream-impacts-of-mapithel-dam/

Loktak Project & corporate unaccountability in Manipur

Of the most ambitious and controversial mega projects in Manipur, the 105 MW Loktak Multipurpose Hydroelectric Project (Loktak Project) hit news headlines in early August 2017, again for wrong reasons. Several media establishments published the non-existence of memorandum of understanding or agreement (MoU) on Loktak Project between the Government of Manipur and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), as confirmed by the NHPC on 9 May 2017 in response to an RTI filed by Mr. Joy Haobijam of Thanga, Manipur. The arsoning of floating huts in Loktak Wetlands and the merciless brutality unleashed by the Loktak Development Authority (LDA) and the Manipur Police in November 2011 and the scandalous corruption in the cleaning of ‘Phumdi’, floating biomass in Loktak Wetlands involving the K-Pro company, also hits news headlines in recent years.

The post Loktak Project & corporate unaccountability in Manipur appeared first on The Sangai Express.

Of the most ambitious and controversial mega projects in Manipur, the 105 MW Loktak Multipurpose Hydroelectric Project (Loktak Project) hit news headlines in early August 2017, again for wrong reasons. Several media establishments published the non-existence of memorandum of understanding or agreement (MoU) on Loktak Project between the Government of Manipur and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), as confirmed by the NHPC on 9 May 2017 in response to an RTI filed by Mr. Joy Haobijam of Thanga, Manipur. The arsoning of floating huts in Loktak Wetlands and the merciless brutality unleashed by the Loktak Development Authority (LDA) and the Manipur Police in November 2011 and the scandalous corruption in the cleaning of ‘Phumdi’, floating biomass in Loktak Wetlands involving the K-Pro company, also hits news headlines in recent years.

The post Loktak Project & corporate unaccountability in Manipur appeared first on The Sangai Express.

Read more / Original news source: http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/loktak-project-corporate-unaccountability-manipur/

Oil exploration : Testing time for Manipur

Of late, oil companies such as Oil India Limited (OIL), the Asian Oilfield Survey Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Jubilant Energy, Alphageo etc has been involved in aggressive efforts to explore and drill oil from Manipur. Ever since t…

Of late, oil companies such as Oil India Limited (OIL), the Asian Oilfield Survey Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Jubilant Energy, Alphageo etc has been involved in aggressive efforts to explore and drill oil from Manipur. Ever since the Asian Oilfield Services Limited bagged a Rs 143-crore contract from the Oil India Ltd (OIL) in January 2017 for 2D seismic data, the company commenced oil surveys in Jiribam, Tamenglong and Imphal West Districts in Manipur.

The post Oil exploration : Testing time for Manipur appeared first on The Sangai Express.

Read more / Original news source: http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/oil-exploration-testing-time-manipur/

AFSPA raised in UN Indigenous meet

IMPHAL, May 18: Jiten Yumnam has raised the issue of prolonged imposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) at the UN Indigenous meet in New York, according to press release issued by Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manipur (CRAM). Jiten is presently attending the 15th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous […]

IMPHAL, May 18: Jiten Yumnam has raised the issue of prolonged imposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) at the UN Indigenous meet in New York, according to press release issued by Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manipur (CRAM). Jiten is presently attending the 15th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/05/afspa-raised-in-un-indigenous-meet/

Another Wall of Injustice

By Jiten Yumnam In January this year, the Thoubal River was impeded by the Mapithel Dam. In the pipeline since the 1980s, the commissioning of the dam meant that the

By Jiten Yumnam

In January this year, the Thoubal River was impeded by the Mapithel Dam. In the pipeline since the 1980s, the commissioning of the dam meant that the backwater reservoir slowly began to rise, fill and spread, even though resettlement had not been completed. It was a despicable act by the Manipur government to forcefully commission the Thoubal Multipurpose Project. By June, due to the rains in the northeastern Indian state, the dam reservoir began to rise rapidly and submerged an extensive area of Chadong village, where many project-affected people reside. The reservoir began to submerge their agricultural land, grazing grounds and forest.

protest_against_inundation_in_june_15_at_chadong_village

Villagers protest after commissioning of the Mapithel Dam earlier this year Photo : Jiten Yumnam

As I write this, homes are being inundated by the rising waters. Villagers are compelled to rely on bamboo rafts to cross the river, given that the only bridge that connects Chadong with other villages along the Mapithel Valley has already been submerged. Most say they can not swim; turbulent waters in high winds pose a constant risk. The villagers are in deep despair as they watch their ancestral lands vanish. But right now they are most worried for their immediate livelihood as their cultivable land is lost to the rising water.

The Thoubal Multipurpose Project is intended to generate 7.5 MW of hydroelectricity and supply 10 million gallons of water each day to the state capital, Imphal. But the filling of the reservoir without addressing the concerns of affected communities – in the absence of holistic impact assessment of the dam – amounts to no less than harassment and is illegal. The Tangkhul Naga and Kuki people will lose their subsistence agricultural land and forests, their source of survival.

The blocking of the river has already led to the drying up of the Thoubal River in the immediate downstream stretch of the dam. The villagers in downstream villages, belonging to the Meiteitribe, are worried of extreme water shortages. The villagers can no longer fish and collect sand and stones brought down by the Thoubal River, which is an economic mainstay in addition to agriculture. Collection of firewood and seasonal food sources from nearby hills is getting disturbed as forest areas are being destroyed, also partly due to militarization in the region. The Mapithel Dam site is located in a highly seismic area, and villagers are concerned about a potential dam break.

img_2956

Villagers are compelled to rely on bamboo rafts to cross the river after the Mapithel Dam inundated the only bridge in the area Photo : Jiten Yumnam

The ongoing filling of the Mapithel Dam reservoir is accompanied with full-scale deployment of security forces of the government of India while subduing all affected peoples’ call and resistance against the blocking of the Thoubal River. Villagers strongly opposed the forceful filling up of the dam reservoir as a clear example of undemocratic and anti-indigenous peoples development. This has created political disenchantment and a fear psychosis among the affected villagers.

The ongoing effort to finalize Mapithel Dam construction is moving ahead, despite the fact that the National Green Tribunal is still considering the violation of forest rights under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006. In clear procedural violations, the Ministry of Environment and Forest, government of India accorded final forest clearance for Mapithel Dam only on December 31, 2013, more than 30 years after the project was approved in 1980, and that too without conducting any site visit to the affected area.

The rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) is being carried out in a piecemeal and divisive manner and has already caused much controversy and human rights violations, resulting in confusion and division among affected communities. Due to the failure of the agreement on R&R, the government of Manipur constituted an Expert Review Committee in January 2008. However, the government withdrew from the process after seven rounds of talks, the last held in February 2011. The government of Manipur forcefully began verification at Lamlai Khunou and Chadong Village in October 2012, despite community objections. The verification is a direct violation of the stay order of the Gauhati High Court on April 25, 2012.

patial_inundation_of_chadong_vilalge

Agricultural land partially submerged in Chadong village by Mapithel Dam Photo : Jiten Yumnam

The construction of Mapithel Dam is still fraught with the absence of a detailed impact assessment on communities with their rightful participation, especially regarding the impact on forest land and other livelihood sources. The plight of the affected communities remains uncertain as project authorities continue to fill the dam reservoir with military presence on their land, suppressing their democratic rights. Mapithel Dam is yet another clear symbol of development injustice.

The filling of the reservoir should be stopped until rehabilitation has been satisfactorily completed while free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous people is taken on board. The militarization of the region, in the name of battling insurgents, too should be halted immediately. Lastly, all forms of involuntary displacement in violation of the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples Rights, 2007 and the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams, 2000 should be put to a stop. Now.

  • Jitin Yumnam is Secretary, Centre for Research and Advocacy (Manipur), and can be contacted at: jitnyumnam@yahoo.co.in
  • Source : http://www.internationalrivers.org/blogs/328-20

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/07/another-wall-of-injustice/