IMPHAL, Jan 29 ? As announced earlier, mass protest rallies under the banner of the Committee Against Tipaimukh Dam taken out simultaneously at Tamenglong Headquarters, Nungba and Luangmai (Noney) recently denounced the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Government of Manipur and the North East Electrical Power Corporation (NEEPCO) for construction of the Hydro Electrical Project at Tipaimukh along Manipur-Mizoram border.
Nearly 650 villagers including school students, non-Manipuri shopkeepers took part in the rally held at Luangmai (Noney). Carrying placards and banners which read ?We Oppose Construction of Tipaimukh Dam,? ?We Condemn the MoU,? ?Tipaimukh Dam is Against the Wish of the People,? ?Nature is our Cultural Heritage-Preserve it?, the rallyists also shouted slogans during the rally.
Later a public meeting was also held after the rally at Noney Bazar in the district. Speaking at the meeting, social activist and lecturer of Komlathabi College, Chandel Dr Jeena expressed her deep concern for the villagers who would be affected by the proposed dam. ??Once the proposed dam is constructed at Tipaimukh, many people in the area are going to lose their means of livelihood??, she said, adding that in the past, people of Manipur experienced such impact when the Loktak Hydro Electrical Project was commissioned.
Reacting against the Government?s assertion that the construction of the dam would help in the development of Tamenglong district, she asked how it would be possible when the source of livelihood of the people have been snatched away. Meanwhile a similar public meeting was also held at the Public Ground of the Tamenglong district headquarter after a rally was taken out.
The meeting also unequivocally condemned the MoU signed by the Government with NEEPCO for the construction of the dam. The meeting also demanded that the content of the MoU signed as well as the project prepared by NEEPCO should be made public.
The resolution of the meeting in the form of a memorandum was later submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of the Tamenglong district. Representatives of Zeliangrong Union, Zeliangrong Women?s Union, Zeliangrong Agency for Women?s Development, Tipaimukh Dam Affected People?s Committee, South Asia Solidarity for Rivers & People?s and Hmar Students Association attended the meeting among others.
In Nungba ,another sub divisional headquarter of the district, nearly 500 villagers took out a mass rally and later submitted a memorandum to SDO, Nungba. Human Rights activist, PA Theko and journalist Valley Rose were also among the eminent personalities who were present on the occasion. Members of the Committee Against Tipaimukh Dam while talking to the mediamen informed that the committee would be submitting a memorandum to Chief Minister Okram Ibobi demanding dropping of the proposal for construction of Tipaimukh Dam.