AHRC objects to Mapithel dam clearance
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, January 18 2014 :
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has expressed deep concerned over Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), Government of India according final Stage-II Forest Clearance for Mapithel Dam in Manipur on December 31, 2013 despite the longstanding objections of the indigenous communities affected by Mapithel Dam.
In a statement, the Hong Kong-based human rights body, asserted that MoEF has conceded the Stage I and Stage II "Forest Clearances" without conducting any site visits into affected areas and without full adherence to Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA, 2006), and undermining its instructions to the Government of Manipur on 23 August 2013 to comply FRA, 2006 before the final Forest Clearance.
AHRC learned that the Forest Clearance is cleared fraudulently in violation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 only after the affected communities filed a complaint with the National Green Tribunal in August 2013.The Government of Manipur had already set March 2015 as the final date of completion of Mapithel Dam even as the Irrigation and Flood Control Department (IFCD) failed to take forest clearance for the project ever since its construction commenced in late 1980s, the joint statement added.