Arable lands continue to shrink at speedy rate
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 09 2025: The Manipur Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2014, enacted to protect the State's agricultural lands and wetlands has proven ineffective as arable land continues to shrink and infrastructure projects proliferate.

Even as the legislation came into force on September 2, 2014 after a Gazette notification and the same has been amended twice (on March 10, 2021 and September 20 of the same year), arable lands in Manipur are still disappearing despite the constitution of local, district and State level committees to oversee infrastructure construction and project implementation on paddy lands.

Arable lands continue to shrink at speedy rate

As per the legislation, unauthorized encroachment on arable land can result in jail term of up to three years and a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh.

Initially, authorities enforced the Act by checking soil excavation and construction on paddy lands.

However, this enforcement has significantly decreased, raising questions about the committees' effectiveness.

Even though Manipur currently has 1.95 lakh hectare (approx) of arable land (88,820 hectare in hill districts) as per the record available at the State's Agriculture Department, the figure is disputed as arable land continues to disappear.

To build a house on paddy land, a person needs approval from the constituted committees, following a strict process, as per the Manipur Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2014 .

It is reported that the Government can approve a maximum land size of 0.20 acres in Panchayat areas and 0.10 acres in Municipal areas for house construction.

Speaking to The Sangai Express, some farmers said that paddy land is categorised into three kinds- Phourel Loupham, Taothabi Loupham and Aganphou Loupham.

Saying that most of the Taothabi Loupham and Aganphou Loupham have disappeared in Manipur, they added that several Phourel Louphams are also disappearing gradually.

They also said that farming in the State largely depends on rainfall due to a lack of sufficient irrigation facilities.

Stating that droughts and floods exacerbated by climate change have a severe impact on agriculture, the farmers added that Manipur relies on other States for food supplies as the local production of paddy and vegetables is insufficient.

Even as the farmers in Manipur have been facing tremendous challenges, the authorities haven't taken up any initiative to fix Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their produce, the farmers complained.

The farmers went on to state that many paddy lands in Manipur are being used for other commercial purposes or left abandoned, fenced off, despite the State's struggles with food insufficiency.

Paddy lands along major roads, including Tiddim Road, Imphal-Yairipok Road, and in areas like Thoubal,Waiton, Napet Palli, Patsoi, Ahallup, Waiton, Laipham Khunou and others, have been filled with earth, rendering them unsuitable for farming, they said.

Asking whether the large number of infrastructure were built after taking approval from the authorities, the farmers cautioned that Manipur may not have any paddy land left to plant crops if the trend continues.