Watching a dying river :: Part II

David Buhril *

A file pic of the then uncompleted Khuga Dam in 2011 :: Pix - TSE

The "Temple of Modern India" that stands in the name of "Khuga Dam" has been one of the biggest agents of polluting River Tuithra, the source of livelihood for Manipur's Churachandpur district.

Khuga Dam poses the single greatest threat to River Tuithra and the thousands of river dependent people. The strength of the river has been sapped by the failed water infrastructure. It stands a stagnating pool with polythenes, bottles and other domestic wastes as the dam has disturbed the natural ebb and flow of the river; choking all its courses. Pollution fouls river Tuithra, turning the life giving river poisonous.

The sewage runoff, agricultural discharges and the load of urban wastes all make for a toxic brew. The threat is evident not only to the health and livelihood of the villagers, but also in the resulting scarcity of water as the river water is no longer fit for human use.

The dam has altered the rules that River Tuithra have lived for hundreds of years . The river is suffering grievously under the weight of abject neglect and the absence of any proactive policy with the dam to deliver environmental justice. There are serious questions attached to the water infrastructure as well; its safety, economic feasibility, the promised development goals and the risks that it posed to the social fabric of the basin residents.

The crystal clear river has lost its value for.the dependent inhabitants; alienating them from its usual significance. The concentration of pollutants is so high that villagers frequently complains of skin irritations and related problems after using the river water. "There was a time when we straightly drink from the river; today we cannot even imagine of drinking the same water. We just avoid the river water. It no longer stands true to its name as we have already killed the river", Zoa, a resident of Saidan village said.

Who Will Clean?

In the face of uncontrolled pollution of River Tuithra, the distressed citizens wonder who will be responsible for the clean-up job. While the need for massive grassroots campaign is strongly felt the gigantic task cannot be left in the hands of the citizens alone. A concerted public pressure has to activate the laggard sectors to perform their duties.

"We tend to blame the river for the pollution but failed to see what we have done to become what it is today. Decades of carelessness has turned the state of our river to become useless. We are the culprits, but we cannot afford to clean by ourselves",Lalhunnghak of Rengkai village said.

Indeed, the authorities has to implement an effective waste management module so that the load of the towns' waste does not end up in the river. Many of the downstream villagers are not comfortable to see the multiplying public toilets installed besides the streams and rivulets that directly flows into River Tuithra.

"We dump all our waste and pollutes our only river; and we cannot build another river for our use. The government has to step in to build proper dumping site and adopt strict measures to divert the wastes that we otherwise end up using. It is already a dog eats dog situation",Thangboi of Khawmawi village said.

The polluted water that the district citizens are consuming are far from being treated. There is no water treatment plant in this progressive but water scarce district. Water borne diseases are a common threat. "We tend to see these diseases as common, but we never try to see how our poisoned water continues to be the agent for the threatening dieases. We just try to treat the never ending diseases and never give a thought to treat the polluted river", Neikhup of Bethel village said.

Not comfortable with the polluted river water for basic use, the district residents have, for long, resorted to digging deep well besides their houses. The water table in the district has also fallen drastically, alarming many of the well owners. Many dug fifty feet below and still could not find water. In some localities, even the well water is not ready for use. "Our well water has a red and yellowish shine with a foul smell. It is not drinkable. We are worried as the river water is not equally safe for use. We are already cornered", Johnson of Hmarveng village said.

The citizens alone are not in a position to shoulder the weight of decades of uncontrolled pollution. It remains inevitable for the concerned authorities to step in to devise strategies to chalk out a saving plan for water security.

Controlling Pollution

As the network of streams and rivulets that flows into River Tuithra has become a convenient site for waste disposal, pollution control remains non-existent. Zaneisang, a regular writer in one of the local dailies, have long written about the threat of epidemic outbreak if pollution is not controlled. There is an urgent need to assess the damage and set priorities to reverse it.

In the absence of any proactive approach to control the mindless pollution the inhabitants are turning the river more hazardous with visible repercussions that are inevitable. While the concerned citizens points fingers at themselves, it cannot just end there.

The dam builders have not come out with any environmental impact assessment. In the meantime, the dam displaced villagers were left out of needs assessment as well as they were left to themselves to scratch a new and often vulnerable livelihood alternatives. What is evident is that Khuga Dam is performing poorly on the environmental front largely because of poor regulatory enforcement by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB).

The "temple of modern India" stands untouchable and unquestionable in this marginalized periphery as it is conceived to deliver the tall promises of "development". So far, there is no interpretation of environmental laws with the dam which is why the affected citizens as well as the authorities are not aware of them. As a result of these shortcomings, the affected communities cannot look for alternative means to address their pollution concerns.

The dam was conceived to become the pride of the district, but it does nothing more than just changing the landscape. Environmental justice remains a distant dream as the dam stands to pollute the densely populated downstream route. While more money is designed to be pumped into the failed project, the absence of a strong political will to secure environmental justice will only further corruption. The dam has forcibly divorced environmental concerns, while at the same time the hatched policies promotes reckless development

There is an urgent need to adopt a participatory approach by prioritising environmental justice. The institutionalization of injustice at the cost of killing a river has become too expensive for the district. The blame game is certain that it will hit the wall. In the mean time, efforts for environment audit like the Green Rating Project (GRP) will have to be activated in the pursuit of stopping pollution. Today, the State authorities are in a better plank to address and redress pollution as the district is already teeming with a significant numbers of NGOs and Church Based Organisations who are in a good position to pool in their resources -financial, man-power as well as ideas to enhance the clean-up job. At the same time, the role of the pollution control boards of the State cannot remain to be just wanting. "Otherwise", J.L. Sawmi of Rengkai village said, "we will slowly die with our only river".