Is Lack of rain really a problem for Paddy cultivation
Time to question the constructed Dams in Manipur

YFPHR *

A Farmer tending to paddy field in July 2019

The State of Manipur which is controversially merged with India having its reach water resources and once use to be a large producer of rice which resulted in Nupi Lal 1939 due to export of rice during the British Rule has now become dependent on the rice and food products which are imported from the central part of India.

The farmers in Manipur mostly dependent on the monsoon rain are facing the water scarcity due to lack of rain during this peak of cultivation which one cannot deny it as an impact of Climate Change. This same issue is being faced across the Eastern Himalayan Region of now North East states of India.

It’s a fact that there is water scarcity due to lack of rain, on the other there is also large amount of water stored in many of the Dams which have been constructed in Manipur assuring irrigation facilities to achieve double cropping throughout the year by the Government.

Details of Khuga Dam

Till date not a single irrigation canals are found functioning by providing fulltime water to the cultivable lands as a result farmers are protesting for not receiving the assured water from the dams like Dolaithabi Barrage which has a plan to irrigate 7,545 hectares, Khuga Dam to irrigate 15,000 hectares, Mapithel Dam to irrigate 33,449 hectares, Loktak Multipurpose Project to irrigate 23,000 hectares, Singda Dam to irrigate 4,148 hactres etc.

The outcry of the farmers clearly indicates that none of them are benefitted by these dams constructed since the 1980s and we also could predict that the proposed construction of dams like the Leimatak, Chakakhongnem, Erang, etc too will also make suffer the farmers like we are facing today.

Dam Water Reservior at Khuga Dam

Manipur have been facing fast flood since the last 5 years destroying large number of agricultural land and standing paddy, hereinto we observed that large number of growing crops are destroyed due to untimely release of water from the dams like Ithai Barrage and others which the people are made convinced it to be an impact of Climate Change by the excuse makers.

One again cannot deny the fact that the dams which are assured to provide water for the irrigation intern destroys the paddy and other cultivations since the commissioning of the various dams in Manipur.

If the constructed dams which invested 433.91 Crores in Khuga Dam, 360.05 in Dolaithabi Barrage, 1387.85 Crores in Mapithel Dam, 418.05 crores in Loktak Project, 6814 Lakhs in Singda Dam and others dams investing large amount of money estimated in crores of Indian Rupees failed to fulfill the assured benefits in terms of Power Supply, Drinking Water, Irrigation, Jobs for the youth, etc, then what is the use of making these dams stand.

It is time to give a collective effort to call the government to decommission the standing Dams in Manipur immediately and to remind the government that this cannot be called as a developmental project.