ALLAFUM flaps NHPC move to extend Loktak project
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, December 16 2023:
All Loktak Lake Areas Fishers' Union, Manipur (ALLA-FUM) has strongly condemned the arbitrary move of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited seeking the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change's approval for extension of operating Loktak Hydroelectric Power Project (Loktak Hydroelectric Multipurpose Project) for another 25 years without taking into confidence the concerns of government of Manipur and thousands of fishers and farmers affected by the Project since its commissioning in 1983.In a statement, ALLAFUM secretary Oinam Rajen Singh questioned the motive of NHPC in not informing the Loktak Development Authority (LDA), state government and Loktak fishing community who are the primary stakeholders, before approaching the government of India on furthering the productivity lifespan of Loktak Project without first addressing four decades of ecological and human disasters caused by the functioning of Ithai Barrage which has been the bone of contention between the project managers and the people of Manipur for nearly four decades now.
NHPC must clarify their stand to the people of Manipur on how it proposes to rehabilitate and resettle the thousands of people impacted by the project and how they propose to bring back the near natural status of the freshwater lake which has now been termed as ageing rapidly' due to the human-led engineering intervention by the project managers, Rajen demanded.
ALLAFUM makes its stand very clear that unless NHPC clarifies on these issues, it cannot go ahead with its plans to lease new life to the destructive Loktak Project.
Manipur people have suffered extensively because of this project and the lives of the lake-dependent communities cannot be further exploited by the project for another two decades and more, Rajen said.
He continued that the Loktak fishing community is suffering acutely from declining fish population in the lake as a direct impact of the Ithai Barrage of Loktak Project.
Loktak is suffering from siltation, pollution and eutrophication and the native vegetation of food and fodder value is fast disappearing from the lake.
Loktak is suffering massive biodiversity loss because of the hydro project, he added.
ALLAFUM further called upon the state government to redress the grievances of the affected people before any move to further the Loktak Project is considered or to allow NHPC to freely extend the project's lifespan without taking the people's concerns into confidence.
ALLAFUM's discontentment reverberates in their demands for NHPC to address the decades-long ecological and human crises stemming from the contentious Ithai Barrage.
ALLAFUM also called upon the state government to prioritise the grievances of the affected populace before considering any extensions to the Loktak hydro project.