India Decides to Resume Construction Work of Tipaimukh Dam

New Delhi, May 19 : The Government of India has decided to resume works for construction of much protested Tipaimukh dam, according to a message received here in Dhaka.

The construction work was suspended amid massive protest from people of Manipur district and also from Bangladesh who fear that the dam will bring disaster for them.

On April 28 the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVN), NHPC Ltd and the Manipur government signed a memorandum of understanding to construct the 1,500MW Tipaimukh hydroelectric project in Manipur.

The project is to be built on Manipur's Barak river that branches into the Surma and the Kushiara rivers after entering Sylhet district of Bangladesh.
The dam could affect water flow into Bangladesh. It will also impact the livelihood of around 60,000 people.

In a joint communique issued after the three-day visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in January, Manmohan Singh had reiterated that "India would not take steps on the Tipaimukh project that would adversely impact Bangladesh".

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh had also said the central government would take a fresh look at the project following protests in Manipur and Bangladesh.

By regulating excess water, the Tipaimukh project is expected to help control floods in Sylhet, western Manipur and southern Assam.
It will also open a new waterway from Haldia port in Bengal to the Northeast via Bangladesh.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 8,138 crore. NHPC will pick up a 69 per cent stake in the joint venture, while 26 per cent will be held by SJVN and the remaining 5 per cent by the Manipur government.

The Sinlung Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Organisation on May 10 protested signing of the MoU. In a release it said theMoU signed by the Government of Manipur with the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) and Shimla-based Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVN) on April 28, 2010 at Faridabad, for building the controversial 1500 MW Tipaimukh Hydroelectric (Multipurpose) Project is without the prior, informed consent and approval of the Sinlung-originated Hmar indigenous peoples who has been peacefully co-existing with river Tuiruong and Tuivai since time immemorial.
The MoU is without the understanding of the Hmar people who are living in the proposed dam site in Tipaimukh and Vangai Hills (Manipur), Sinlung Hills (Mizoram) which will be part of the upper-stream as well as downstream and Barak Valley (Assam) in the downstream.

"When the new agreement, which will be a joint venture between NHPC (69 per cent), SJVN (26 per cent) and Manipur Government (5 per cent), was made, the threatened Hmar indigenous people's citizenship and democratic rights , land, rivers, forest, natural resources and entitlement were not assessed, identified or mentioned. The MoU is unconstitutional, discriminating, unjust, and undemocratic."

NHPC's track record with hydro-power is alarmingly poor in all the important aspects. If one looks at NHPC's performance, in case of Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Chamera I and II projects in Himachal Pradesh, Loktak project in Manipur, Koel Karo project in Jharkhand, Lower Subansiri project in Arunachal Pradesh, Teesta Low Dam stage III project in North Bengal, Salal and Uri projects in Jammu and Kashmir, Dul Hasti project in Jammu and Kashmir, Baira Saul project in Himachal Pradesh and Tanakpur and Dhauliganga projects in Uttaranchal, Rangit project in Sikkim, it is evident that NHPC severely failed in good practices, creating irresponsible disaster to land, people and resources, displacing people without proper relief, rehabilitation and resettlement measures, violating human rights, huge cost and time overruns, causing construction related disaster, poor social and environmental standards. In many cases NHPC did not even have an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Social Impact Assessment of its projects.

Worst, NHPC have also, in many cases, failed to avail free, prior information for the affected people. Many a times, NHPC doggedly pursue its projects without informing the targeted people about public hearings.

In short, NHPC has been involved in severe violations of current Indian environment norms and manipulating environmental impact assessments. NHPC should rather be responsible for the gross unpardonable destruction that it has caused to lives, rights and environment and focus on good practices instead of toying with bigger project that will create bigger destruction and tragedy.

Similarly, with a poor and failed record of implementing policies on dams and any development projects, breakdown of law and order and governance, the Government of Manipur does not qualify to be one of the implementing agencies by playing with the lives of its citizens, forests, rivers, and rights in the name of development.