Food shortage
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 23 2015 :
The Mapithel Dam Affected Villagers' Organisation (M DA VO) has expressed deep Concern that acute food shortage looms large in many villages affected by Mapithel Dam even as the people living in Imphal town are eagerly waiting for heyday to receive enough drinking water from Mapithel dam within 2 years as dedared by the State govt.While Chadong villagers have been facing great trouble in house shifting and reconstruction at their own capacity, a serious problem of food shortage has hit all the affected people as a direct fallout of inundation of cultivated paddy fields and homesteads in the months of July and August this year.
Even if 25 to 30 pc of families in every village manage to survive on their own stocks of paddy till December, the 70 pc people have started facing food shortage since the first part of the current month.
The undesirable impacts thrown upon the project affected people is not only the menace of today but it would linger for generations beyond repair, according to a press release issued by MDAVO.
As per the recommendations of experts, "The key issue in Resettlement & Rehabilitation are landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalisation, increased morbidity and mortality and food insecurity" .
11 other experts of different fields laid stress in their field report on socio-economic and sustainable development perspectives.
Until and unless the protracted Mapithel dam issues are solved through the Expert Review Committee's process, the-State Govt would be held responsible for the irreparable havoc thrown upon the affected villagers, it added.