Imphal, March 14: The commemoration on International Day of Action against dams and for rivers, water and life with special focus on Tipaimukh high dam was held at Majorkhul Community Hall here today.

It was on this day way back in 1997, that all the people affected by construction of dams came together in Brazil.

The commemorative function was organised for the second time under the aegis of Action Committee Against Tipaimukh Project (ACTIP), a conglomerate body of all the social organisations opposed to the proposal of constructing Tipaimukh dam formed on March 7, 2006.Zeliangrong Union, Imphal Zone Chairman Sanajao Kamei, Chairman of Nungba Zone of the Union G Chailin, HERICOUN president Rev Renghang Chothe and UPF president Thingom Mangi attended the function as presidium members.

Among the resource persons who spoke at the occasion, director of CORE Dr Debabrata Roy Laiphungbam observed that the proposal for construction of Tipaimukh Dam is objectionable as it is an unplanned project full of loopholes, inconsistencies and vital informations hidden from the people.

The fact that Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest has rejected the application of the project proponent, North East Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) for issuing the Environmental Clearance twice and raised many pertinent questions showed clearly that the project is not in the interest of the people, Dr Roy contended.

The EAC has found the application by NEEPCO deeply flawed, and containing many errors, omissions, gaps, lacking in scientific rigour and falling short of compliance of normative standards set by the scientific and academic community in India and the world, he said.

He further maintained that it was only under pressure from the Prime Minister's Office that a meeting of the EAC was convened on February 24 to discuss the issue of Tipaimukh dam and it has been known from reliable source that the EAC did not grant the EC during that said meeting, Dr Roy noted, adding that the Environmental Impact Assessment of NEEPCO is full of discrepancies.

NEEPCO is also lying to the people on Forest Clearance as the Chief Conservator of Forest has not received any information in this regard.

Moreover, the application for Forest Clearance did not mention about the existence of Wild Life Sanctuaries located near the project site despite the fact that Zeilad Wild Life Sanctuary and Jiri-Makru World Life Sanctuary are the recognised Wild Life sanctuaries which are located near the dam site, he pointed out.

In view of all these inconsistencies, the MoU signed between the State Govt and NEEPCO on the dam should be abrogated and the project reviewed, he said.

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