Dams in Manipur: A purview around the debate

By Dr Kshetri Rajiv *

Manipur is a state jostled by profound socio-economic and political unrest that is caught in elements of backwardness, high intensity ethnic conflicts, insurgencies and rise of conflicting claims over the question of territoriality. It has a long experience of changes in the society induced by the impact of dams. It's story of adverse impacts caused by various dam projects is a sad one. However, in the name of development, the state is still following the developmental planning in which the concept of dams occupies an important space. The conflicts generated by dams, has a spill-over impact on all major issues besetting the body politic of Manipur today.

As is the phenomenon globally, so in Manipur too, there has been a constant interplay of its natural endowments and politics. In other words, the geography of Manipur has not been bereft of politics. With its complex geographical and topographical settings, the state is known to be a very vulnerable state in the Northeast region and is in search of a compromising position between the hills and the valley.

Such vulnerability can be attributed to the fact that different geographical conditions have produced different socio-economic conditions in various regions of the state. Further, the traditional pattern of resource usage among different sections of the people has also contributed to an uneven economic growth thereby enlarging the vulnerability.

For a long time, the limited arable land, made fertile by the streams and rivers running down from the surrounding forested hills, has played a key role in the economic life of the people in both the hills and plain. Since the pre-colonial regimes, the sharing of productive forces between the people of hills and plains through their close interaction has been well acknowledged in most of the historical literature.

It is also a matter of fact that, while the large forest area of the hilly region provides the household commodities of the entire state, the fertile valley has been responsible for high levels of food production in the state. Traditionally, there has been co-existence between the peoples of the hills and the valley in sharing resources such as rice production, forest products, water, etc.

Meanwhile, the state is today following a path of development that is almost parallel to the Indian pattern previously examined by taking up various projects like roads, buildings, irrigations, hydro-power, etc. At the same time, the state has already experienced the way in which similar kind of development has been managed in the past and has been witness to the story of both success and failure of these projects.

This has now reached a critical stage requiring an assessment of these projects, particularly in the case of dams. The imperative for such examination arises not only to ensure that the benefits accrue to every section of people in the state but also for a comprehensive understanding of their various aspects in terms of the interplay between politics, culture and natural resources.

It is discernible that high profit motives necessitated the construction of high multipurpose dams, for which human ingenuity is not exhausted that has led to the construction and maintenance of such modern technologies. But it is also important to note that the technocrats and technologists do not equally address themselves to making protection technologies, which can protect various interests of the affected people.

The dearth of such technologies is evident by the inability to solve various socio-economic problems from any proposed dam construction. Therefore, it is important to stress the principle of minimum losses for maximum gains. The assertion of rights is often underpinned by the mode of land ownership, which is not uniform. Community land ownership which is practiced now seems to be in vogue as the individual land ownership system is not being actively held in the region. This state of affairs coupled with the assertion for collective community interests has induced the ideology of anti-dam in the region, and particularly in Manipur.

With this kind of a scenario emerging from the large scale projects in the state, there are deep apprehensions among the people, when these projects threaten large scale losses of cultivated and cultivable lands, forest, cultural heritages, tourist and micro power generation potential which ultimately form some of their immediate concerns. Their apprehension is compounded when the authorities concerned do not address public concerns by conducting proper surveys of the proposed dams and their adverse impacts.

The anti-dam ideology revolves around the idea that deprivation of rights of others at the expense of socio-economic development should never be accepted. Therefore, Tipaimukh project is today seen as another way to aggravate multiple adverse impacts on the complex socio-economic and political sphere of the state. Such an understanding has intensified the peoples' voice against the projects which has, in turn, highlighted these multiple issues at both local and global levels.

The complexity of the Tipaimukh Dam can be seen from the nature of the ongoing protest against the dam by a variety of Naga organizations including the Naga Women's Union and the United Naga Council, which served a 'quit notice' to the Kukis from Naga inhabited areas in 1992.

Moreover, the Naga nationalist movement depicts the area as falling within their homeland, Nagalim and is against the construction of this dam. Such projects are viewed by the movement rather as exercises in resource extraction than as developmental projects. The presence of the All Naga Student Association of Manipur, Zeliarong Union, Zeliarong Women's Union, Zeliarong Students Union of Manipur, etc, suggests an interest of the Nagas in the area although the project site is situated in the Kuki dominated district of Churachandpur.

Another critical issue of Tipaimukh project is its impact on the ethnic boundaries of the state. It may be well noted that the project which tends to affect some sections of population may also benefit some sections too. With this, there are supporters who believe that the dam will bring about socio-economic development of the state. It is worth noting that such pro-dam and anti-dam divide among ethnic groups has the potential to create clashes among the communities of distinct identity.

Thus, one group's view on the project becomes threat to another. For instance, the Village Chief Association of Nungba Sub-division of Tamenglong District has expressed its gratitude to the State Government for signing the MoU of Tipaimukh dam. The Chairman and Secretary of the Association who belong to Kuki tribe asserted in a joint press statement that the people of these most backward and neglected areas will have a chance to see the light of development and modern civilization with the construction of the dam.

Calling the statement irresponsible and immature, another organization belonging to Zeliarong tribe came out with a press release condemning the above statement and requested not to repeat it in future. In this regard, the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), a Kuki organization, has strongly deplored these chains of reaction and counter-reactions on the proposed Tipaimukh dam along, what it called, ethnic lines.

Therefore, the Kuki Inpi appealed to all sections to see things in their correct perspective rather than in terms of ethnically determined interests. Such exchanges of statements among the different ethnic groups are sign of serious issue which might have implication in maintaining the ethnic relations in the state.

Finally, it is a point to be noted that in Manipur, the new phenomenon of 'ethnic fragmentation' has often led to clashes among tribes once belonging to a united body like Kuki. At the same time, the process of amalgamation among the different tribes within the Naga nomenclature has produced the phrase 'Naga inhabited area' in preference to its earlier terminology 'Naga dominated area' after the Naga-Kuki clashes. It is also a pointer to the serious issues revolving around the question of the dams in Manipur.

A consideration of all these complex issues requires a strict adherence to the principle that the benefits of one community should not result into the loss of other communities. Therefore, it is essential that there be popular participation in the process of planning in order to accommodate different claims and thereby minimize adverse impacts.