No hasty decision on Tipaimukh dam: Pala

SHILLONG, JUL 16(NPN):
Union Minister of State for Water Resources, Vincent H Pala Friday said opinions of all sections of people will be taken into confidence on the proposed construction of 1,500-MW Tipaimukh hydel power project in Manipur.
The mega-power project, one of the largest in northeastern India, is vital for meeting the increasing electricity demand in northeastern India has been opposed by environmental groups and opposition parties in neighbouring Bangladesh.
Views of the local indigenous people in those areas will be taken into confidence on the project, Pala told journalist here
However, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh had told legislators in the Assembly (july 12) that his government is committed to go ahead with the controversial Tipaimukh project.
The public sector power utilities National Hydroelectric Power Corp (NHPC) and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) would develop the Rs.8,138 crore (Rs.81.38-billion/$1.7-billion) Tipaimukh project.
The project, located on the Barak river in western Manipur, is under attack from opposition parties and environmental groups in Bangladesh, which say it could cause desertification downstream in their country. Part of the Brahmaputra river system, the Barak bifurcates into the Surma and Kushiyara rivers on entering Sylhet district in eastern Bangladesh.
The Sinlung Indigenous People Human Rights Organisation (SIPHRO), an anti-dam group in Manipur maintained that any plans to build large hydro dams (Tipaimukh) should take into consideration the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams (WCD).
Indigenous peoples in different parts of the world have already disappeared due to sea-water rise and erosion and have also become environmental refugees due to big dams, SIPHRO Secretary, Lalremlien Neitham said.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chief Khaleda Zia had sent a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to abandon the project.
A 10-member Bangladeshi parliamentary delegation conducted an aerial survey of the Tipaimukh dam last July after opposition over the hydel projects possible ecological impact intensified in Dhaka.
Even Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) has categorically assured that no hasty decision will be taken on the issue. India would take into confidence Dhaka before going ahead with the project, so as not to hamper the friendly India-Bangladesh ties, Pala said.



Centre okays Rs 2,873-crore Mizoram project
NEW DELHI, July 16(EMN): The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a comprehensive and integrated socioeconomic development project for Mizoram, involving Rs 2,873 crore over a period of five years.
The programme that is set to benefit 1.20 lakh families will be implemented under the new land use policy of the State Government, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said.
It envisages switching people involved in jhum (shifting) cultivation to permanent livelihood activities with ownership of land, access to link roads, irrigation and water harvesting and all these at a remunerative price for produces.
Jhum cultivation or shifting cultivation is a practice prevalent in the north-eastern States and it involves clearance of forest on sloppy land, drying and burning debris and cropping. After harvest, land is left fallow and cultivators repeat the process in a new plot designated for the year for jhum cultivation.
The integrated socio-economic development project for Mizoram under new land use policy seeks to increase income by 7-10 times through agri-horticultural activities, animal husbandry, fisheries, agro forestry etc. The overall growth of the economy in the State would increase to 16 per cent from 6 per cent at present in the next 10 years, the minister added.