Hydro Electric Power Industry: A must for Manipur
- Part 3 -

N Shyamsundar Singh *

Loktak Lake - largest freshwater lake in North East India :: Pix - Bullu Raj

It is likely that the Lake area has reduced drastically because of ever increasing menace of encroachment over the last couple of decades. Ironically, as the trend suggests the state Government property is considered as an ownerless property in Manipur. Different figures have been furnished or projected by different interested groups/authorities in respect of the area of Loktak Lake.

Someone says it is about 440 sq.km and some other 490 sq.km. LDA has come up with a figure of 469 sq.km. However, in all the cases the level at which the area is measured and by whom it is measured are not mentioned. The NHPC has claimed that based on the Topo sheet of Survey of India, the area of the lake is found to be 263 sq.km at Full Reservoir Level (EL769.23m) and the project was designed accordingly. This area includes the area of water body of Lake and the submerged area around the Lake.

Therefore, the fact of the matter is that even if one considers some percentage of error in the calculation of the area, one has no valid justification to show that a vast area of 50,000 hectares (500sq.km) of agricultural land is submerged when water is impounded in the lake which has a lesser area.

Therefore, it is a fact that The State Government is actively involved in the management process of the Lake. The Steering Committee of LDA and Line Departments headed by the Chief Secretary, Manipur, provides the policy direction, streamlines project fund flows, and maintains an over view of implementation of various activities and also the coordination among executing agencies. The Government of India has also released over the last 30 years or so adequate fund in the forms of annual Normal Plan Assistance (NPA) and Special Plan Assistance (SPA). In addition, other substantial assistance has also been pumped in to the project from different sources.

A barrage is hydraulic diversion structure. Unlike Dam, it does not have any permanent head. The head is created simply by the gates. Once the gates are fully opened the entire discharge is allowed to pass through and flow to its own course. The elevation at the top of 5 Nos. of gates at Ithai barrage is maintained at El 269.3m (i.e. full reservoir level).

The gates, when fully opened, shall allow 566 cumecs of water to pass through it and resume its natural flow. The top of the gate is about 17m below the elevation of Imphal which is 786m above MSL. Spill of water over the gate is never permitted.

Being a Ramsar site, maintenance of Lake ecological character finds a significant place in water allocation policy of Loktak Lake. Accordingly, Wetland International South Asia (WISA) has recommended a barrage operation rule to the Steering Committee which will be jointly determined by LDA and NHPC in consultation with all stakeholder Departments and local community.

Therefore, the attention of the section of the society that has put the blame on the project authority alone and agitated with strong protest against the degradation of the overall environment following deterioration of the condition and quality of various aspects of the lake, may be drawn to the fact that the State Government bestowed LDA and its other Line Departments the authority to conserve and manage the Loktak Lake including barrage operation Barring a small role to play in the Ithai barrage operation, the NHPC has not been assigned with any specific responsibility in the matter of Loktak Lake management. Therefore, the success or the failure of the mission depends exclusively on how responsibly and at what degree of commitment and conviction these state agencies perform and deliver.

Benefits from LHE Project: Being a home -state of the Loktak Hydro Electric Project, Manipur is entitled to get 12 p.c. of the total generation of power free. The 12 p.c. free power accounts for about 54 Million unit(MU) of free energy in a year. In terms of money, if evaluated at the present sale rate of Rs. 3.65 per unit, as determined by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) for this Central Sector Plant, the state income would be around Rs.20 crores. The home state is given the option to collect this amount every year in lieu of the free energy.

The state utility has been selling the free energy to its consumers at a heavily subsidized sale rate of about Rs. 24 crores. Therefore, it would be more appropriate if the state power utilities maintain a separate account for the state income of Rs. 20 crores out of its revenue receipt.

In addition, Manipur is given an allotment of energy much more than that of any other beneficiary states of NER. The state has been purchasing the allocated share of about 80 MU at the sale rate mentioned above (Rs. 3.65 per unit). On an average, the state makes an annual payment of about Rs. 29 crores to the NHPC for purchase of the allocated share. If the state purchases 134 MU from any other source at the prevailing tariff, it may have to pay Rs. 67 crores or more in a year.

Mention may also be made about the other additionalities, the project authority offer in the matter of un-interrupted power supply in the state. For instance, when the injection of power from outside to the state through the long transmission system, is not possible because of technical reasons, the Loktak HE Project comes to the rescue of the state by releasing its entire generation for the state consumers only.

In the critical period, when the inflow is extremely poor in all the hydro power plants of NER, the project authority collects and saves the inflow for several hours in the reservoir (Lake) and releases it to generate power required for meeting the demand of high valued consumers of the state like All India Radio, Doordarshan, Hospitals, Telecommunications and other very important offices etc. This kind of support and co-operation the project authority extended to the state are worth putting on record.

Every year, the Government of India collects quite a large amount of revenues and taxes through various agencies from different sources like, Railways, Post & Telegraph, Civil Aviation, Oil & Natural Gas, Central Sector Power Plants, Industries and so on. A part of the total proceed is allocated to the states under a specific criteria in the form of Annual Plan or Five Year Plan allocation. For instance, Manipur is given Five Year Plan allocation of Rs 35000 crores for use in its development programmes during 2015-16 to 2019-20.

In addition, an amount of Rs.2,400 cr. is also kept reserve for Centrally Sponsored Schemes. It clearly shows that the state also receives its share from those sources mentioned above. Therefore, it may not be proper to abruptly conclude that loss suffered because of the project is much more than what it pays back.

Needless to say, many lakes and water bodies have disappeared in Manipur over the last couple of decades and may more are also on the verge of disappearing when these bodies are encroached, built upon for public or private use or reduced to dumping grounds for municipal waste and sewage.

The Government, both at the national and state levels have paid scant attention to the wellbeing of the lakes; rather ignored their ecosystem values. The civil society organizations and the activists also have managed to remain silent. Thus the lakes are always left to the mercy of several corrupt, influential and squatters who enjoy political patronage.

Even the Loktak Lake which receives threats constantly from encroachers might have faced the same fate had the Loktak HE Project not been there. Or it might have been an apple of discord for the villagers of the 45 villages located in and around the Loktak wetland complex and their outside supporters. This could be construed safely considering the past experience, recent happenings at Sendra and Takmu areas and more importantly, the never fulfilled eagerness of influential people to encroach for their own gains. Therefore, anybody who truly loves the Lake and its environs, must not let it be another victim of the menace of encroachment.

to be continued.....