Twists of droughts and floods;
Is water management an impossible task for the state government?
- Imphal Times Editorial :: July 03 2016 -

Crimes against humanity deserve the worst form of punishment. Different nations have different legal systems to protect the interest of their countries.

The enforcement of certain laws – like capital punishment, Special powers act to armed forces may have strong and supportive argument as it is about the security of their respective nations.

Gross violation of human rights in certain parts of the country and other parts of the world may receive severe criticisms from many who are concerned for Human values.

Arguments may continue for certain human causes permitting each sides to stand tight with their act. But what about some issues like global warming, water scarcity and deforestation?

There is no wrong in saying that environment has no boundary.

A massive destruction of forest or extraction of crude oil or mismanagement of natural water or any other resources is among the issues which no nation could give reasonable arguments as it affect regions beyond the politically drawn boundary. After all, these issues concern about the humanity across the globe.

Reports about the scarcity of usable water have been top news with almost all newspapers in Manipur. The state which have adequate rainfall annually now face acute shortage of water since the last couple of decades.

Interestingly, during this period the state had also witnessed flood many times. In short the state suffers the ugly twists of flood during rainy season while they had to bear drought in the remaining days.

In view of the arising situation that we are facing right now, there is an urgent need to ponder on what went wrong so that a sustainable solution can be attempted.

Is it the people or is it the government who is responsible for the present crisis?

Deforestation that has been taking place illegally in different parts of the state has been often blamed – both by government and the many social activists which is universally accepted by all.

One thing we at Imphal Times suggest is that we cannot squarely blame the people who are responsible for cutting the trees for their livelihood.

It is the government which is responsible and why shouldn’t it be so? It was all about their survival and some people do not have any alternatives for survival.

On paper the government had passed numerous schemes to substitute the livelihood but it is an open secret that none of this schemes meant for the poor people had ever been benefitted as the money meant for them had been pocketed by government authority who were entrusted with implementation of the project.

Another matters, which we at IMPHAL TIMES is concerned is the poor understanding of the government department about the need for storage of natural water underneath the earth.

There seem to be a complete lack of knowledge by the government authority about the need to let the earth absorb any source of water.

Clear example is the network of drains constructed under huge funding from the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM). The cubicle shape drainage construction has no mechanism to let the drain water absorbed underneath the earth.

This is not the only case as, with any government infrastructural development work there is no sign of the government authority showing concern with the importance of rain water harvesting.

Harvesting rain water does not mean that it should be stored in a tank or some man-made water storage tank. It is about harvesting inside the earth to be reused when required.

The problem of water scarcity has been much talked about and the matter was raised by Imphal Times on many occasions and had also suggested many ideas to the government to create water body in and around the Imphal city.

Now, the state is in crisis with increasingly frequent flooding. It is time someone with conviction and authority act up.