Environmental impacts of water crisis deliberated
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 17 2023:
A one-day round table discussion on "The Environmental Impacts of Water Crisis in Manipur" was held yesterday at the conference hall of the Department of Zoology, Manipur University.
The event was jointly organised by the Department of Zoology, Manipur University; the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, Manipur University and the Apunba Imagi Machasing (AIMS) Manipur under the guidance of the North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP), a joint developmental initiative of the North Eastern Council (NEC), Ministry of DoNER, Government of India, said a press note by AIMS.
Professor N Mohilal Meitei of the Department of Zoology, MU; Yutaka Agatsuma, Chairman, Asia Supporting Organization, APOP, Japan and Teruaki Watanabe, Director of TMH Green, a Japanese firm based in India; Dr Homen Thangjam, Faculty, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Regional Campus Manipur and Dr Vivek K.Vaishnav, Head, of Department of Forestry & Environment Science, MU graced the occasion as the presidium members.
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The event started with presentations from representatives of NERCOMP units in Manipur such as the Chandel Unit, Tamenglong Unit and Senapati Unit about the activities and achievements of their respective units. These presentations were followed by a presentation by Watanabe on behalf of Agatsuma about their organisations' interventionist activities in Myanmar in the horticultural and agricultural domain as steps towards sensitising the people against poppy plantation and deforestation.
Dr Homen Thangjam also shared his thoughts about the "essence" of water in Manipuri civilization and the water crisis that the citizens of Manipur are facing at the moment.
He emphasised that once governance distortions are corrected and people get their due shares, many of the crises can be overcome in Manipur including water crisis.
Professor N Mohilal Meitei emphasised the need of bringing about a green world through community participation.
Preventing the water crisis demands voluntary contribution from the communities and to assist the Government in solving the problem, he added.
Dr Vivek K Vaishnav acknowledged the Department of Forestry & Environment Science's activities taken up in the far-flung areas of Manipur.
According to him, people resort to illegal practices like poppy cultivation because they want "easy money".
So making people get their deserving basic needs is the call of the hour and at the same time awareness programmes are needed to sensitise people about environmental issues, he said.