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The People’s Chronicle | www.thepeopleschronicle.in
Imphal, Sunday, February, 19, 2017
When High Dams wreak havoc with Humanity
SALAM
RAJESH
Senior Journalist
T
he recent incident of one
of America’s highest dams,
built on the Oroville Lake
near California, showing signs
of fracturing and consequently
threatening with massive impact
on people, properties and the land
downstream of the dam, again
brings to the fore the dangers
of mega dams. A massive population, more than a lakh and
eighty eight individuals, settled
downstream of this high dam
were evacuated to safer places
fearing unaccounted damage by
the impact of the sudden burst
of water when the dam finally
succumb under the pressure of
its stored water.
The pros and cons of mega dams
had long been debated upon in
various forums by various stakeholders, including developers and
affected peoples. Developers’ projections are always on the benefits
of the mega dams, such as providing of hydro-electricity, lift irrigation, inland river transportation
and tourism. Whereas, affected
communities have continuously
protested the long term impacts
on land, people and properties,
including irreversible impacts on
river systems, natural environment, wildlife and forest regimes.
The northeastern region of India
is no exception to the intense
debates on cost-benefits of mega
dams. A large number of mega
dams are being proposed to be
constructed in different parts of
the northeastern states, a maximum of which are being planned
in Arunachal Pradesh. In Manipur, the proposal to construct
the Tipaimukh High Dam had
been stiffly opposed by the local
people fearing possible short and
long term major impacts upon the
land and people in Manipur, particularly in Tamenglong, Noney,
Churachandpur, Pherzwal and
Jiribam districts, with devastating
impacts upon the Cachar plains
in case the high dam collapsed in
exceptional circumstances such
as high intensity earthquakes.
This apprehension is generally reflected in all of those
regions where mega dams are
being planned or proposed. In
neighbouring Assam, in a recent statement to the State and
Central Governments, renowned
environmental scientist Dr. Dulal
Chandra Goswami had stressed
upon ensuring the safety and security of people and properties
in the downstream areas of the
Himalayan rivers in the state.
Dr. Goswami’s concern reflected
upon the inherent dangers that
big dams in the Arunachal Himalayas, either proposed or those in
the process of construction, might
have on the basin ecology, river
hydrology and hazard potential in
the downstream areas particularly
in the valley areas. According to
Dr. Goswami, in the absence of
adequate riparian policy framework and management protocols
among the different stakeholder
states, such sectarian development efforts could go against the
spirit of sustainable development
and hazard management in the
interstate river basins.
Dr. Goswami also maintained
that it was high time that the
State and Central Governments
formulated appropriate strategy
towards development of the interstate as well as international
river basins in the North East
region, and to retrain any major
intervention in these river basins
until an agreement is reached
among the stakeholder states. In
case of the Subansiri hydroelectric project, the Lower Subansiri
Hydel Project, for instance, could
influence the entire system of
the Subansiri River. The hydel
project would lead to the rise in
the bed of the river due to heavy
siltation, being triggered by the
digging operations on the river
and on its banks and also in its
surrounding hilly areas.
The Government of India had
raised objections with the Government of China when the latter
planned to construct high dams
in the Tibet region, specifically upon the river origin of the
mighty Brahmaputra in the Eastern Himalayas. The contention
was primarily two-fold. Firstly,
the concern of the lower riparian
country on water sharing basis,
apprehensive that water flow of
the Brahmaputra would con-
siderably slow down once high
dams cut off the river flow in the
uplands. Secondly, the concern
that upper riparian country was
indulging in arbitrary activity that
needs consensus of both upper
and lower riparian countries, especially as the Brahmaputra flows
through three nations, namely,
Tibet, India and Bangladesh. Other than the political concerns, the
social and ecological impacts of
such mega dams could create long
term enmity between the nations.
In Manipur, there were heated
deliberations on the proposal to
construct the 1500 megawatt capacity Tipaimukh Hydroelectric
Multipurpose Project at the con-
fluence of Barak and Tuivai Rivers
by different national agencies. The
objections were based on social,
economic, political and environmental concerns. This mega
dam, once it was constructed and
commissioned, was projected to
have submerged large tract of land
in western and southern parts
of Manipur, displacing forests,
wildlife and humans in a major
scale. The concern was also on
possible massive impacts upon
land and people in the Cachar
plains of Assam in the eventuality
of the dam breaking down and
there is sudden outburst of the
stored water.
For the Bangladeshi side, the
concern was on deprivation of
water in the northeastern parts
of the country once the river flow
of the Brahmaputra slowed down
with the construction of the mega
dam. Bangladesh already has a
long standing dispute with India on water sharing basis of the
Farakka Barrage which cuts off
the water of river Ganges, consequently inducing low flow and a
state of artificial drought in most
parts of the northwestern region
in that country. The concern,
therefore, was more than the social and environmental impacts
of mega dams. It intrinsically
leads to socio-political concerns
or conflicts between nations or
between State and communities
when the costs are more than the
benefits of such projects.
Back home, the impacts of
Ithai Barrage, which is built at
the confluence of Manipur and
Khuga Rivers, has long featured
centre-stage in every forum of de-
liberation on the social, economic, political and environmental
impacts on land and people. The
issue of displacement of hundreds
of families living both in the upstream and downstream areas of
Loktak Lake and Manipur River,
and major impacts on the ecology
of the lake, wildlife and vegetation
is still an ongoing process, nearly
five decades down the line since
the Barrage was commissioned.
The sudden release of water from
the Barrage had considerably impacted the river banks and settlement lands downstream of the
Barrage, especially in Langmeidong, Wangoo, Sugnu, Serou and
Chairen villages. An estimated
50,000 to 80,000 hectares of agricultural lands are said to have
been drastically impacted by this
hydel project.
It was, thus, not hard to visualize the extent of the damage
that the Oroville high dam in California could be unleashing on
the land, people and properties
downstream in case it collapsed
and its stored water rush out in
violent torrent. The impact would
be both in short and long term
measures, costing millions to the
State other than the irreparable
loss to properties. The catastrophe could also have another repercussion in the form of global
protests on mega dams that are
of high risks and having potential for impacting land, people
and properties in unaccountable
measures. In its own measure,
the Loktak Hydroelectric Multipurpose Project has been a pain
in the neck for the State and the
people for a very long time now.
An open letter to PMO, Govt of India
Quote of the day
Justice that love gives is a surrender, justice
that law gives is a punishment.
- Mahatma Gandhi
j Louboutina is an NYC golden retriever that can’t
stop giving hugs. After her owner ended a relationship, she started ‘holding hands’ with him by sitting
up and grapping his hands with both her paws.
Now that she’s upgraded to hugs, she’s gained 58k
Instagram followers and spends about 2 hours a day
hugging the people she meets on her walks.
DID YOU KNOW
Hon’ble Sir,
j It tooks a judge’s ruling to settle an argument
about whether Snuggies are blankets or garments.
Because blankets and clothing are taxed differently, the company objected when its product was
placed in a garment category and given a higher
tariff. The courts officially declared that, because it
opens in the back, has no closures, and is marketed
as a ‘blanket with sleeves’, the Snuggie is indeed a
‘blanket’.
I
live in small town called Tamenglong in
Tamenglong District of Manipur. Our
town road is like a dried up river, i.e.
there are so many potholes in the up-going
street of our town. Month back my friend
saw an autorickshaw unable to climb up
the pothole, and an accident was about to
happen. That day itself my friend started
to fill up the pothole with some stones and
mud. Then another guy said 'I can also help'
and then more people came to help. So
these guys organize themselves and form
a voluntary group. They get some donations from friends. When their work was
circulated in WhatsApp and Facebook local
people who are within and outside began to
donate some money. They fetch upto about
Rs 5 or six lakhs as donations. By it they
began to have hope. So they decided that
there are many good people to help - not
from MLA or Dist. Adminstration. And now
they have embarked upon blacktopping the
town street completely from donations of
well-wishers.
Some days back they search for bitumen,
and with sand and boulders and firewood
donated by local people (and some were
bought at price) they have started repairing
thousands of potholes in the bazaar road.
They later called themselves as SET (Society for Enhancing Tamenglong). Buying
bitumen, and then hiring some experience
workers (for blacktopping) have dwindled
some of their fund. But help from churches, youth organization, even help form 78
years old man, the shopkeepers donations
helped them a lot.
Sir, why don't you help them too from
your own pocket (they don't want to politicise this work, and hence they don't really
want any political party to donate to them).
Some of their work activities are already
uploaded in local newspaper Facebook of
'The Tamenglong Times'.
Even if you don't donate, atleast give them
words of encouragement please through my
email. I shall inform them again.
That's all, Sir.
Yours faithfully,
Jimmy Pamei,
Editor, The Tamenglong Times
E-mail: [email protected]
Event Mismanagement: Kuki-specific
LUNMINTHANG HAOKIP
j A legendary demon cat is said to haunt the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The cat allegedly
appears before major tragedies and was reportedly
seen by White House guards shortly before both
JFK and Abe Lincoln were assassinated. Though
the cat hasn’t been seen in years, some say a set of
paw prints in the floor by the Old Supreme Court
Chamber are proof of its existence.
j Willie Nelson has some extremely devoted fans.
When he got into trouble with the IRIS for $16.7
million in unpaid back taxes, he had to surrender
most of his possessions to stay out of prison so his
fans came to the rescue, set up fundraisers, bought
the items (including his home) at auction, and then
gave everything back to him.
T
he Urge To Hold Events: Every Kuki who had arrived
as a social icon to reckon
with has this incorrigible urge
to splurge in a social event. All
costs are calculated. Life is short.
Accidents make it shorter. What’s
the harm in burning a few hundred thousands of rupees in exchange for life-time recognition
of one’s achievements? So thinks
the upwardly-mobile Kuki who
can afford to smash a costly mobile
hand-set at the slightest provocation. SAIL (Steel Authority of
India) claims that there is a little
bit of steel in every man. Likewise,
there is a little bit of showmanship
in every Kuki.
Reasons To Hold Events: In a
democratic set-up, you can never
predict the future of an ordinary
guy who hails from an obscure hill
village or a backward small town.
Political changes driven by the
forces of clannish one-upmanship
equations, at times, catapult an
erstwhile “lacking Jack” of pitiable
standing to the enviable position
of a “having king” through the
mysterious plotting, weird machinations and honeyed-talks of
staking spin-doctors. The hurt
sentiments of those who were
trampled on the way to unbecoming prominence, and at whose
expense undue victory happened,
need to be soothed. The hidden
motive gets cleverly covered in
the festive splash of a social bash.
Unexpected Success: A critic
once said, “Success in competitive
exams comes about not as much
due to one’s good performance
as much as due to the poor performance of other competitors”.
I believe there is an element of
truth in the wise observation. W.L
Hangshing, IAS, Principal Secretary to Government of Manipur,
said that the total marks he scored
in the UPSC-conducted exam that
lifted him to the big league of IAS
was less than the total marks he
scored in the year he was offered
IPS. Luck and chance also play a
role in appointments to top-level
posts and positions. In certain
cases, promotions also favour the
less-deserving. Success by default calls for celebration to make
things appear hard-earned. Yet,
no one can contradict the fact
that “success is getting what you
want; but happiness is wanting
what you get”.
The Initial Hurdle: The most difficult part of holding an event is
delivery of Invitation Cards. You
may wonder why? How insignificant in society you may be, you
have your own friend-circle, past
class-fellows and former glass-fellows, relatives who talk about you
in superlatives and the ones who
spat expletives on you, people you
put up with but would actually
like to put down, acquaintances
who expect invitation but you
think they deserve isolation and
powerful dignitaries you cannot afford to ignore. List settled
somehow, there is the problem
of delivery of the invitation cards.
As the host, you have a hundred
matters to take care of. You end
up entrusting the odd job to any
available man-friday to learn the
misses later, through verbal hisses,
that the bunch of cards meant for
a particular area finally landed in
the hands of even more unreliable
persons who played truant and
bring embarrassment to the event
management.
Managing Egos: Kuki bashes
are mostly held in the backblocks. Maddening urbanization
leaves little parking space in the
big towns where other facilities
aren’t far to seek. Country-side
venues appear picturesque and
ideal to accommodate thousands
of invitees but participants have to
either hire a vehicle to make it in
the far-flung place of celebration
or have to spend heavily on fuel
expenses. The extra-expenditure
incurred on conveyance makes
one extra-sensitive on the manner
one is welcomed or attended to
or otherwise. One’s coping with
pressure to please all is often mistaken as aloofness by some.
Tales of Wail: A lady from Sadar Hills had to go back from an
event in Chandel district without
presenting her gift simply because
she was not given the VIP-reception she desired. A reluctant
invitee from Imphal felt terribly
let down that the host did not
look straight at him flaunting a
100-watt smile while they shook
hands. A socialite, in the height of
her vanity, preferred to go starving
in a bash where the hostess failed
to bestow upon her the importance
she thought she ought to have got.
And yet the most complicated
issue to settle on the part of an
event-manager is the nursing of
a secret urge on the part of some
invitees to address the audience
out-of-turn outside service order.
Food For Thought: In an event,
although a time is given for arrival,
human nature being what it is,
schedules are not kept. Some reach
early to rue over the hurry and
others come late without feeling
sorry. The economics of management fix the time for feasting,
in print, after the programme is
over. Many of the invitees who
had to start early in the morning
of the day from a long distance are
compelled to sit through the meeting with hunger gnawing at their
vitals. And if the service drags on
like the monsoon rain that does not
know when to stop, the hungry
lot have to leave the event before
feast-time. The only way to salvage
a bash from being mis-managed in
this regard is to open the kitchen
throughout the day. The cost incurred would be the same, more
or less, but the management would
be saved from the taunt of acidic
tongue-wagging.
Gifts Wrapped In Self-Importance: For all the teachings on
self-denial in Church-messages,
we have not quite learnt the finer
implications of self-denial. The
craving to underline one’s participation in an event manifests
itself in the form of a demand,
through a small chit, for a slot to
present a gift from the stage. When
scores of invitees suffer from the
same I-sickness, the meeting is
stretched to intolerable limits.
What is the need to go ostentatious
in the full glare of the audience
when one could have silently submitted one’s gift-packet at the
reception counter if desire is not
to show off one’s importance or
the lack of it? This old habit doesn’t
change even in a funeral service. It
will, hopefully, change only when
one is the centre of attraction in
the later service.
Announcement of VIPs: In a
big meeting, biggies attend along
with small fries. Vanity in bigness demands recognition and
snobbery in smallness craves for
appreciation. At such critical
junctures when one’s status is
undermined in public, VIP may
as well become “very insecure
person”. So, lesser mortals make
it a point to announce big names
and designations in a given assembly. However, at times, due to
nervousness or ignorance, smaller
guys are made more prominent
than bigger ones. This “pardonable human weakness” becomes
unpardonable to the victims of
management lapses. All said and
done, the best event is yet to be
managed. A perfect one, of course,
is imaginary. Reality, as of now,
is oddity.