Case registered against public hearing opposers
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 23 2012:
After the authorities have given a written assurance that no more public hearings would be held in Tamenglong district regarding oil exploration in Manipur, police have registered a case against those who people opposed and attempted to thwart the public hearing held at Nungba.
According to a source, an FIR case (FIR No 23/08/2012 Nungba PS U/S 148/149/341/353/506 IPC of 1960) has been registered at Nungba police station.
As per the sections invoked in the case, the accused are being charged for rioting, arming themselves with deadly weapons, assembling unlawfully to cause death, restraining people wrongfully, assaulting or impending with criminal force public servants from discharging their duties etc.
However, some people, on condition of anonymity, who took part in the August 17 Nungba public hearing have expressed strong disapproval against the police reaction.
Questioning whether those people coming for the public hearing were assembling unlawfully, they contended that none of the people who raised objection against the public hearing were armed with any deadly weapon.
Nevertheless, they admitted that some people chanted slogans against the public hearing as well as the initiative for oil exploration in Manipur.
They also flashed placards and banners embossed with words decrying the oil exploration move and those words were what people wanted to convey at the public hearing.
There was no incident of threatening or assaulting any Government servant.
The people were only agitated when officials of Manipur Pollution Control Board (MPCB) announced through PA system that the public hearing had been put off.
At this, people sought and obtained a written assurance from the officials declaring that no such public hearings would be held in Tamenglong district.
Notably, the project of oil exploration and drilling in Tamenglong, Churachandpur and Imphal East (Jiribam sub-division) was initiated under the code name AA-ONN 2009/2 in accordance to the production sharing contract signed between the Government of India and the Netherlands based Jubilant Oil & Gas Pvt Ltd on July 19, 2010 .
Subsequently, SENES Consultants India Pvt Ltd conducted a survey.
It was on the draft EIA report of the survey that the public hearing was organised by MPCB.
Before Nungba, similar public hearings were held at Parbung, Churachandpur district on August 8 and at Jiribam on July 30 .
Like in Nungba, people openly protested against the oil exploration move during the public hearings held at Parbung and Jiribam.