Drying Kharungpat affects lives of many
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 29 2018: Kharungpat, which has been the main source of livelihood for the villagers settled in the surroundings area (which was once a part of Thoubal district before it was included in Kakching district), has been slowly drying up thus impacting the lifestyle and living standard of the people who depended on the water body.

It is often said that compared to the depth of the lake in 1981, the current depth has reduced by more than half.

In the old days, the lake was even divided into various parts like Pangalpat, Kambong Lairam, Kachin Lairam, Namol, Chamapan, Pat Chao Mayaipat, Tabopat, Urattogbi, Utaobi, Pansang.

Luwangtok etc and the State Government used to get some revenues water bodies.

Rich people and officials used to invest in the lake and the poor people used to depend on the lake for their livelihood.

However, today, the lake has been shrinking slowly and the rapidly expanding weeds threaten to completely destroy the lake.

The sand and mud brought by Tentha river as well as the water and sediments from Loushipat play a huge role in the gradual shallowing of Kharungpat.

Drying Kharungpat affects lives of many

The constant flooding of Tentha river during the Monsoon often results in large amount of excess water being dumped into Kharungpat.

Speaking to media persons, Sapam Tamphajao, president of Citizens' Association for Rural Development (CARD)- a body established with the aim of saving the lake, said that an order to de-reserve around 300 pari of Kharungpat was issued by the then State Government on September 7, 1981 (the gazette notification was issued on September 26).After the issuance of the gazette notification, the Deputy Commissioner, Imphal Central, issued an order on July 31, 1982, which allotted the area to 300 individuals.

The Director of Settlement Land Record also issued an order directing 45 individuals to pay up the premium.

The order to de-reserve 300 pari of Kharungpat as well as making 45 other individuals pay premium, are the main reason behind the gradual death of the lake, he claimed alleging that despite various rules and regulations against allotting land to those who already have land under their names, those who are under 18 years, those who live farther than 8 kms away from the area etc, many bypassed the rules and were named in the allotment.

Due to the allotment, many individuals began encroaching on the lake.

And instead of using the encroached land for their livelihood purposes, the said individuals began selling the said land/area to others which resulted in the shrinking of the lake area, Sapam Tamphajao added, stressing on the need for immediate Government intervention to save the lake from dying.

On the other hand, he also explained that the lack of boundary between Ikoppat and Kharungpat is also another reason for the gradual shrinking of the lake as the sediment and debris brought by Tentha river are all being dumped at Kharungpat.

He appealed to the Government to make arrangements for building a boundary between the two lakes so that water meant for Thoubal district can be guided towards Ikoppat and water from Loushipat can be guided to Kharungpat, as well as to channel the excess water from Kharungpat towards Imphal river, Khoidum Pumlem and Nongmaikhong so on to Ithai.

This will improve the condition of Kharungpat, he said.

Tamphajao continued that the worsening condition of Kharungpat has resulted in loss of crore of rupees in agriculture of the area which has led to immense suffering of the poor people and farmers.

He explained that following the harvest of rice from the paddy field, farmers usually plant various crops like potatoes, pumpkins and squash etc and the ecosystem of the lake play an important role in ensuring proper harvest during the winter season.

However, the shrinking and shallowing of the lake threaten to destroy this system of agriculture, he informed.

Kharungpat and Ikoppat are the third most important lakes in the State, he claimed adding that if Kharungpat dries up or completely vanishes, Wabagai will not be able to produce anything, he added.