‘We can live without power, but we can’t live without our land’: Indigenous Hmar Oppose the Tipaimukh Dam in Manipur

Hydro-nation, Discourse and Discontent in Northeast India: The Case of Tipaimukh Dam, Manipur

“…With this, the objective of the dam is no longer limited to mere flood control with the incorporation of power generation. As such, the name of the dam was also changed from ‘Tipaimukh Dam (Multipurpose Project) to the Tipaimukh Power Project’ (Arora and Kipgen 2012: 115).…”

“Environmentalism of the poor”: the Tipaimukh Dam, ecological disasters and environmental resistance beyond borders

“…The Dam would severely affect agriculture and fisheries, vegetation and greenery including local flora and fauna, and generate a massive displacement of people and livestock in Bangladesh. The effects of the Dam are not only confined to Bangladesh as it also of serious consequences to the people of the Indian states of Manipur and Nagaland as the Barak-Surma-Kushiara is an international river (Islam 2013;Arora and Kipgen 2012;Somokanta 2014). Figure 1 shows the nexus of rivers in north-east Bangladesh and India.…”

“…Sohel Masud and Wahid Palash-pursued a study titled "Hydrological Impact Study of Tipaimukh Dam of India on Bangladesh", and their findings describe the terrible potential outcomes to be faced by Bangladesh from the construction of the Dam which they have summarized in six broad categories: hydrology, flooding pattern and river-floodplain-wetland ecosystem, morphology, water quality, Dam collapse, and other general impacts (Khan et al 2005). Arora and Kipgen (2012) have pointed out the main objections of the people from both Bangladesh and India to the Dam project which they have also grouped under six categories, albeit differently: location in a geologically unstable region; loss of biodiversity with submergence of land; economic feasibility studies and cost-benefit analysis; administrative lapses, procedural and human rights violations; social and cultural objections; and objections by Bangladesh. They argue that the proposed Dam site is located in Zone V of Seismic Zoning Map of India, and that during 1953-92, this region had experienced twenty-one earthquakes of more than 6.5° on the Richter scale (see also, Abbasi 2009).…”

“…Inhabitants of Manipur too have felt that this Dam could turn out to be a source of sustained-dangers such as the potential loss of local biodiversity including flora and fauna, endangered species including pythons, gibbons, and herbal and medicinal plants, and the threatening of tribal land ownership. It would cause inundation of as many as ninety villages within a 311-square-kilometre radius (Jahangir 2009;Islam 2013: Arora andKipgen 2012). For Bangladesh, the potential impacts are even more severe.…”

Ranking of Sites for Installation of Hydropower Plant Using MLP Neural Network Trained with GA: A MADM Approach

“…Extensive case studies are conducted for existing as well as upcoming power plant in India. Main emphasis is given to the power plant installation in North East India as administrative irregularities, procedural violations, environmental considerations, threat of cultural extinction, lack of participatory project implementation, and absence of informed public consent of the affected were reported [ 7 – 9 ]. The rest of the paper is organized as follows.…”