Fishermen demand review of Loktak Protection Act
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network

Imphal, June 04 2012: All Loktak Lake Area Fishermen's Union, Manipur has demanded that the Manipur Loktak Lake (Protection) Act of 2006 be thoroughly reviewed to bring it in harmony with international standards and the fundamental rights of the people.

Loktak lake is one of the largest fresh water body in India situated in Manipur.

On Monday, All Loktak Lake Area Fishermen's Union in connection with the World Environment Day 2012, pledged to work together with the people of Manipur for improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.

"On this occasion, we launch our campaign "Occupy Loktak" by coming out in mass as a community, hundreds strong, to reassert our rights as indigenous peoples to be fully included in the future of Loktak Lake, the surrounding wetlands, and in the future of Manipur", stated the press note.

The Union reiterated that the indigenous fishing community of Loktak lake area has been the custodians of the lake, maintaining the ecological balance and contributing to the economy of Manipur while sustaining their livelihood.

"We condemn every initiative which excludes us in the development of a "green economy" in Manipur, from blocking and barraging our tributaries, destroying our home along with indigenous flora they are built on.

Our free, prior and informed consent must be taken before any initiative for the development of the Loktak lake area is finalized and initiated as a designated Ramsar site.

We remind the government of Manipur and the government of India that India is a signatory of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which sets the minimum standard for the protection and promotion of indigenous peoples' rights internationally", stated the press note.

The Union said that the traditional wisdom and knowledge of the indigenous fishermen of the Loktak lake have been ignored in the strategic planning and development programmes taken up by the Loktak Development Authority, thereby risking sustainability and conservation.

The transformation and maintenance of the Loktak lake into a reservoir for hydropower production by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd., a state-owned corporation, along with the destruction of traditional homes of the people, phumdis, along with the destruction of the biomass has posed the greatest threat to the Ramsar site as well as to the livelihood of the people and the ecological balance that the indigenous fishermen of the Loktak lake have sustained over the ages, said the press note.

"The promulgation of the Manipur Loktak Lake (Protection) Act of 2006 is a direct contradiction to international human rights law and the fundamental rights and freedoms protected by the Indian Constitution.

This Act is also against the spirit and intent of the Ramsar Convention.

With this Act, we have been called and treated as encroachers in our homes and ancestral territories where we have been stewards of the lake's ecosystem as well as supplying Manipur with the fish that are in every market and every house.

We demand that this Act be thoroughly reviewed to bring it in harmony with international standards and our fundamental rights", concluded the press note.

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