What is the issue?
- Myanmar is building a new dam, close to the border near Manipur.
- This has raised some concerns among the border villages in Manipur.
What is the project?
- The dam, called Tuidimjang, is being built on the Twigem river.
- Twigem river flows into Myanmar from Manipur..
- The dam is barely 100 metres from the zero line separating the two countries.
- International rules warrant border countries to check activities in No Man’s Land.
- This applies to a 150-metre strip on either side of the boundary line.
What are the concerns?
- Border villagers in Kengjoi subdivison of Manipur’s Chandel district are concerned of the project.
- The residents of Khangtung village recently reported to the district officials.
- Khangtung is inhabited by the Thadou tribe and is 137 km south of Manipur capital Imphal.
- The villagers, dependent on the river, are already facing water scarcity.
- Given the topography of the area, the new project could make it even more vulnerable.
- If the dam comes up, Khangtung and other Indian villages will be submerged.
- Villagers will have to be relocated and rehabilitated.
- This may have huge negative social, cultural and economic impact on the residents.
How are the internal dams in Manipur?
- Mapithel - Mapithel dam, initially known as Thoubal Multipurpose Project, aimed to produce 7.5MW of power.
- Irrigation and providing drinking water were also the objectives.
- Despite inking an understanding with the State government, the villagers were not facilitated with a proper relocation site.
- In June 2015, a tribal village named Chadong in Ukhrul district was submerged.
- Khuga dam - Taken up in 1980, the project lies south of Manipur’s Churachandpur town.
- Lying dormant until 2002, it led to a cost escalation from the initial Rs. 15 crore to more than Rs. 350 crore in 2009.
- The project sanction by the Planning Commission was said to have inherent flaws.
- Resultantly, the power component of 1.5MW incorporated in the initial design was scrapped despite near-completion of a powerhouse.
- Tipaimukh - It is a mega hydroelectric project proposed on river Barak in Manipur 35 years ago.
- Bangladesh is against this project, as Barak flows into it from Manipur through southern Assam.
- It feeds the Surma and Kushiara rivers in Bangladesh.
What do they imply?
- Many of the internal dams in Manipur are already facing varied controversies and limitations.
- A number of ecological, political and procedural aspects of the projects are causes of concern for the region.
- The dam by Myanmar, close to the border, is a new threat to the ecological and water sustainability of the region.
- The Chandel district officials are expected to survey the dam construction site to assess the condition.
Source: The Hindu
