Two villages show the way with spring water harvesting
Source: The Sangai Express / Ng Liklaileima Arambam

Imphal, December 21 2023: Residents of Lamdeng and Kameng have expressed preference for spring water stressing on its pleasant taste while pointing out that river water usually carries an unpleasant odour.

Lamdeng and Kameng villages are located on either side of Luwangli River which is to the south of Langol Reserved Forest in Imphal West district.

Due to the collective efforts of the two villages with the help of the Manipur Forest Department to conserve the Langol Reserved Forest over the last 25 years, springs that had previously dried up have been rejuvenated, providing the residents with spring water for their domestic use.

Springs originating from streams such as Laimang Lok, Laimaning Lok, Lokmang Lok, Macha Lok and Lokchao Lok provide spring water to the residents of Lamdeng Ward No 4 and 5, while the villagers of Kameng Awang Leikai and Maning Leikai get their supply of springwater from Leimarok.

Two villages show the way with spring water harvesting

Khundrakpam Tombi (75), president of Lamdeng Makha Leikai Ching Kan Lup and Joint Forest Management Committee spoke to The Sangai Express detailing how the regeneration of forest and revival of springs came about.

He stated that in the 1980s, forest cover disappeared from the portion of Langol Hill in Lamdeng and Kameng area to the point that men and animals climbing the hill could be seen from a far off distance.

As a result of this degrading forest cover, there was widespread soil erosion during the rainy season where the top soil from the Langol Hill was washed off and the resulting mix of soil and water flooded the agricultural fields and even caused large scale damage to paddy crops.

Forest fires were also a frequent occurrence then, he added.

Facing water scarcity, the residents used to travel long distances to Leimarok Water Supply and Luwangli River to fetch water for their daily use.

Some of them also fetched water from the handpump at Khumdi Kabui village located to the east of Langol Reserved Forest.

In order to deal with these long term issues, the villagers convened a meeting and formed Lamdeng Makha Leikai Ching Kan Lup in 1997 .

The Lup resolved to prohibit entry of humans into the Reserved Forest in the general area of Lamdeng for a period of four years and went a step further and imposed fines on those found violating this prohibition.

In addition, the Lup also resolved to detain people found starting fires in the forest, stated Kh Tombi.

Thereafter, due to these prohibitions, forest cover slowly returned and the villagers also took steps to prevent forest fires.

In 2006, Joint Forest Management Committee Lamdeng for Lamdeng Ward No 3, 4 and 5 was formed under the Manipur Forest Department.

In 2007, these committees went on to set up various nurseries and planted tree saplings across 200 hectares of fertile hill area in 2008.Through dedicated efforts, they also ensured the survival of all these tree saplings, Kh Tombi maintained.

Continuing with the narration, the Ching Kan Lup president happily informed that the forest now boasts of a variety of trees and plants, namely, Manahei (Terminalia citrina), Yongchak (Tree bean), Wang (Cashmere tree), Uyung (Jolcham Oak), Mayokpha (Arjuna myrobalan), Gooseberry, Agor (Eagle wood tree), Bellirica, Cinnamon tree, Bay tree etc as well as numerous medicinal herbs scattered across the forest floor including Yempat (Wild Ispaghula) .

He also pointed out that felling of trees has been prohibited in the forest for the last 7 or so years.

As a direct consequence of this, Kh Tombi shared that heavy rains no longer washes away the topsoil.

The forest floor is fertile and moist and many springs that had previously dried up began reviving in 2016 .

With the help of the ICICI Foundation, the Manipur Forest Department under the "Spring Water Harvesting, Sustainable Water and Forest Conservation Project" were able to set up three tanks at Lamdeng Ward No 4 and 5 and filtered spring water brought to the tanks via dedicated pipes.

The spring water stored in these tanks are then used by the villagers, he said.

In Kameng, two tanks are set up at Kameng Awang Leikai and Maning Leikai.

The first tank was set up at Lamdeng Ward No 4 in 2016/17 and the second at Ward No 5, which became operational on January 20, 2019.The third tank was built at Lamdeng Ward No 4 and became functional from July 3, 2021, he shared.

Regarding the filtration process of the spring water, Ngangom Megha, president, Joint Forest Management Committee, Kameng shared that the spring water is stored in one tank and filtered with the help of bricks, pebbles and sand without the use of any chemicals.

The filtered water is then pumped into the tanks in the village for public use.

Despite the springheads being a perennial source of water, the water supply to the village is sometimes interrupted due to damage to the water pipes.

Stating that the villagers face extreme hardships on such occasions, he appealed to the relevant department to ensure that the pipes are well maintained.

Stating that the portion of Langol Reserved Forest in Kameng area was heavily degraded in the past, Ng Megha recounted that a committee was formed in 1980 to save the forest led by one (L) Lairenmayum Ibohan.

In cooperation with the people, the committee restricted felling of trees, forest fires and launched a publicity campaign to spread awareness about conservation of forests.

Consequently, as a result of these constructive efforts, vegetation cover returned to the forest.

In 2015, Manipur Forest Department and Nongchup Kameng Forest Protection Committee joined hands to form Joint Forest Management Committees for Kameng Awang, Makha and Mayai Leikai.

Following this, a massive tree plantation drive was carried out from Lamdeng to Khamrang area, he added.

Moreover, the Kameng Water Supply Scheme was launched at Hawai Lokchao under the PHE Department with the objective of supplying water to the four "leikais" of Kameng.

However, Kameng Awang and Maning Leikai were not covered under this water supply scheme and thus tap water remained inaccessible to them.

Fortunately, this problem has been partially solved by the supply of spring water from Leimarok and Kameng Awang and Maning Leikai have had access to spring water from 2021 and 2022 respectively, he added.

RK Amarjit, Special Secretary, Forest, Environment and Climate Change Manipur asserted that the growth of lush forests in the southern section of Langol Reserved Forest is due to the joint efforts of Manipur Forest Department field staff and the villagers of Lamdeng and Kameng.

The Special Secretary also emphasized on the need to map out the number of springheads in the forest.

The sprawling 19.22 sq km Langol Reserved Forest was declared a Reserved Forest by the Manipur Durbar in 1939 .

But some portions of the forest are disputed land.

As of now, 1439 encroachers that were included in the list published by the State Government in February, 2019 have not yet been evicted.

In addition, an increase in encroachment of forest land has been discovered as a result of the ongoing conflict, he added and appealed against such unlawful activities.

Lauding the commendable job done by the villagers for the conservation of Langol Reserved Forest, RK Amarjit highlighted the importance of maintaining healthy forests for their role in reducing air pollution and acting as carbon sinks etc.

Maintaining that conserving the forest has enabled them to have access to natural spring water, Khundrakpam Tombi, popularly known as "Ching Tombi" has made an earnest appeal to the public to save forests and save springs.

This report was filed under the Directorate of Environment and Climate Change's fourth media fellowship programme.