The Northeast is flooded – State efforts are too little too late
- A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission -
02nd August, 2017
The Prime Minister of India has just announced a Rs.2000 crore relief
package to deal with the damage caused by the devastating floods have
impacted the northeast region of India since mid-June, particularly
the states of Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh. The floods
escaped media attention for quite some time, as is want of events that
take place in the North-East of India.
The region regularly receives torrential rain during the monsoon
season, and has experienced severe flooding as recently as 2016.
Despite this, no real measures have been taken to address the impact
of these rains in the long term, and assistance from the government is
slow and inadequate. At the time of writing this statement, over 17
lakh people have been displaced, more than 3000 villages remain
underwater, and nearly 100 persons have perished due to drowning or
electrocution while still more remain missing in the Brahmaputra and
Barak valleys.
Assam is the worst affected region, with over 2000 villages submerged
and 1 lakh hectares of crops destroyed. Arunachal Pradesh is nearly
cut off from the rest of the country, with its capital city of
Itanagar isolated due to the near-complete erosion of its main
connecting road. Manipur has suffered a double blow, with nearly 1
million people being displaced and a significant part of its lower
valley completely submerged.
According to the information received from the United NGOs Mission,
Manipur, AHRC’s partner organisation, the main reasons behind the
sustained damage this monsoon are the numerous dams built illegally in
the area. Most of the hydropower projects and dams being built at this
time have not been subjected to Environmental Impact Assessments(EIA)
in accordance with the law.
Governmental organizations such as the
North Eastern Electric Power Coorporation (NEEPCO) and the National
Hydroelectric Power Coorporation (NHPC), both of which regulate the
operations of these projects, have been criminally negligent in their
handling of the same. The North-east Dialogue Forum has called for
decommissioning of these hydro projects in the region, alleging that
they have received information that no EIA, human rights impact
assessment or cumulative impact assessment was conducted before the
Ranganadi dam was built in Arunachal Pradesh in 2002.
The NHPC failed to open the gates of the Ithai barrage in Manipur
immediately after it overflowed, causing more flooding in the
surrounding regions. NEEPCO also ordered the opening of the Ranganadi
Dam in Arunachal Pradesh on July 9, 2017 which was constructed without
obtaining clearances under the Environment Protection Act or the
Indian Forests Act.
This was done without following the procedures of
prior intimation or early warning system to alert the locals and
concerned authorities. This soon caused damage to human lives,
livestock, and crops, including over 20,000 hectares of paddy. The
district of Lakhimpur, which served as a catchment area for water
released from the dam, was severely affected, with more than 200 homes
being submerged, displacing the families that lived within. According
to NEEPCO
A few other projects which are illegal or which will cause severe
damage must also be closed. The first is the Pare Hydro Dam in
Manipur, which is upstream from a large community settlement that will
be affected if the dam overflows, which is a likely scenario in the
next monsoon. The second is the Loktak Hydro Power Project, which has
also commenced without the relevant approvals of both the State and
Central Government, nor the completion of an Environmental Impact
Assessment.
The floods have also caused landslides, which are resulting in a heavy
loss of human life in these hilly regions. Apart from the loss of life
and shelter, residents in the region also face a heavy loss of
livelihood in the aftermath of these floods. Fishing and agriculture,
two of the main sources of income for residents, are both severely
impacted by flash floods and torrential rain. The available data
suggests that the frequency of floods has increased from one annually
to three, leaving the people in the area facing a nearly permanent
threat to their life, homes, and livelihood.
The floods have also impacted the fauna and flora of the region,
particularly Kaziranga National Park, with over 80% of the park being
covered in water. Several species which are the target of
international conservation efforts have been affected, most noteworthy
being the death of the park’s most rare and famous inhabitant, a
one-horned rhinoceros.
It is essential that the Central Government ensures that affected
persons have access to adequate food and water for the duration of
their displacement. Even more essential is the need for effective
long-term measures to be put into place, so that this level of
devastation and displacement does not take place again. The Central
and State Government must work together to immediately identify those
dams and power projects which have commenced in violation of
environmental protection laws. The illegal construction of dams or
other structures which have such a detrimental impact on the
environmental must immediately be ceased until such time as the
assessments as per law is conducted by an independent agency. Further,
adequate warning systems must be in place after rigorous testing to
ensure that no water is released from a dam without warning to the
surrounding population.
Asian Human Rights Commission
G/F 52 Princess Margaret Road
Ho Man Tin, Kowloon
Hongkong S.A.R.
Tel: +(852) 2698-6339 Fax: +(852) 2698-6367
Web: www.humanrights.asia
* This Press Release was sent to e-pao.net by Asian Human Rights Commission who can be contacted at humanrights.asia
This Press Release was posted on August 3 2017
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