MDAVO decries over Govt claim
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, October 15 2015 : Mapithel Dam Affected Villages Organisation (MDAVO) has decried over the claim of the State Government regarding implementation of Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers (Recognition of Forest rights) Act, 2006 (FRA, 2006) in respect of Phungyar Sub-Division in Ukhrul district on the basis of a highly controversial agreement entered between some vested people and the State in 2011 .

In a statement, MDAVO Vice Chairman Themson Jajo said "It objects the surreptitious minutes of proceedings of the Division Level Committee (DLC) in a meeting held on March 12, 2013 at the office chamber of Deputy Commissioner (DC), Ukhrul based on the secret agreement of 2011 which involves multifaceted controversies featuring violation of High Court's stay order, series of objections raised by the concerned villages, MDAVO, manipulation of population and households and corruptions.

The affected villagers came to aware of such programmes only in 2015 and no such information was intimated to them.

So far, no affected villages have ever discussed about the implementation of the Act in their assemblies which is very mandatory in the implementation of the FRA, 2006 .

The same was done with an intention to incorporate in the dam process which have gone through multiple violations of norms, laws and tribal rights.

The processes of the Mapithel Dam project after sidelining the Expert Review Committee (ERC) processes in June 2011 were arbitrary and diabolical actions to snatch away the rights of the tribal villagers and their land and forest.

MDAVO asserted that experts from 12 departments submitted their field investigation reports during the ERC process from 2008 to 2011 .

All the reports laid stress on sustainable livelihood development of the affected people which were all ignored, rendering the whole exhaustive efforts of the experts meaningless.

MDAVO will continue to press on the experts recommendations as their chance of survival lies in its finalization.

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