Villagers flee from Mapithel Dam, block road
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, July 24 2015 :
Overwhelmed by the growing fear that Mapithel Dam may collapse or get breached any time, people of some adjoining villages fled their homesteads last night and they are now taking shelter at nearby highlands (hills) .
Enraged with the Government's indifference, the villagers blocked roads and burnt objects in the middle of the roads.
A joint team of media persons and Human Rights Initiative (HRI) visited the dam site today.
The team saw people of Tumukhong, Moirangpurel, Leirongthel and Top Chingtha protesting against the alleged Government's indifference by blocking roads in their respective areas.
JAC of Mapithel Dam Downstream Affected People convenor Takhellambam Kaboklei said that they have submitted a number of memoranda and photographs of Mapithel Dam to the State Government.
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Now water is seeping below land surface towards nearby villages from the dam.
As the seepage of water continues throughout day and night, people's fear for the worst has been multiplying every hour.
They left their homesteads and fled to nearby hill areas last night, Kaboklei said.
None of the villagers are able to sleep at night lest they are caught off guard.
The volume of water held up by the incomplete dam is quite incompatible with its strength and structure, she alleged.
Notwithstanding all the assurances of engineers, the villagers are fearing for the worst.
Before the dam was constructed, people living in the downstream used to earn their livelihood by quarrying sand/stones, fishing and gathering vegetables like peruk, yelang etc.
But all these avenues of earning livelihood have disappeared after the dam was constructed.
Seepage of water occurs because of water filtration.
Just beside the points where water seepage was reported, a little volume of water is being released towards the nearby river, said P Ingocha, another Executive Engineer.
If the rainfall continues leading to further increase in the water volume, the matter may be consulted between the villagers and officials concerned, he said.
He added that the matter may be studied collectively between officials and the worried villagers but blocking roads cannot be a solution.