Sit-in protest temporarily blocks entrance to DC Office
Ukhrul DC Assures Basic Amenities For Affected Villagers
Source: Hueiyen News Service / R Lester Makang

Ukhrul, July 10 2015 : In a renewed push to pressurize the Government to immediately settle the protracted Mapithel Dam controversy, a group of protestors led by Tangkhul Shanao Long (TSL) and Tangkhul Katamnao Saklong (TKS) held a sit-in protest inside the District Mini Secretariat complex on Thursday.

On Friday morning dozens of protestors including human rights activists and social workers stormed the District Mini Secretariat complex and blocked the main entrance to the Deputy Commissioner Office for a few hours.

The protestors put up a banner inscribed with "Decommission the Mapithel Dam" while holding placards reading "Respect Tribal Rights," "Cost of Mapithel Dam is 8000 lives, 22 villages," "Stop Militarization of Mapithel Area" etc.

However, the protestors finally dispersed after Ukhrul Deputy Commissioner Hrishikeesh Modak assured to provide necessary assistance in early settlement of the rehabilitation process and provide basic amenities for the villagers affected by the Mapithel Dam construction.

It is learnt that Ukhrul Deputy Commissioner Hrishikeesh Modak attended an official function at TNL Conference Hall around 11 am during which the protestors began the sit in protest and blockade of the Eastern Block housing the district administrator's office and others.

Around 12:30 pm when deputy commissioner came back his to his office, the protestors refused him entry into his office.

A momentary commotion then ensued in front of the main entrance to the office as the DC insisted on normal functioning of his administration as it functions for the public.

DC Modak then urged the protestors to lift the blockade so as not to disrupt the administration in its official process toward settling the dam issue.

The protestors pointed out that while the inhabitants of 22 villages in Mapithel area are already facing dire consequences of the dam, proper rehabilitation process has not been fulfilled by the State Government till date.

Water supply, power line, health facility and school functioning have stopped causing undue hardships to the villagers of Chadong and other villages in the area.

Even as a discussion to bring an understanding between the two sides continued, the protestors also submitted a memorandum addressed to the Union Tribal Affairs Minister of India Jual Oram through the DC, urging him to decommission the dam under construction.

According to the memo, the dam project violates the rights of the tribal communities of the affected Mapithel area as vast tracts of their ancestral lands and homesteads have been destroyed violating the Forest Conservation Act 1980, Forest Rights Act 2006 .

Urging the Union Minister to intervene in militarization of the area to suppress resistance against the dam by the State Government, the memo then called for decommissioning of the dam.

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