Mapithel Dam : Water seepage :: Floods : Annual affair
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 25 2015 -

The situation is not comfortable. As things stand today, Churachandpur town has already been hit hard and so were some places at Senapati district.

The critical worry however is the fate of people living in the vicinity of Mapithel or Maphou Dam in Ukhrul district, where the local people have already raised an alarm over the seepage of water from the said dam.

Officials may sideline the anxiety of the people by asserting that water seepage occurs in all the dams constructed across the world but the Government can ill afford to ignore the sense of panic amongst the people.

Manipur has seen more than its share of floods and each year it has been the same old story.

True there may be no foolproof formula to avoid floods, especially in a place like Manipur which has a high rate of rainfall, but surely some measures ought to be in place to minimise the impact of flood.

Nothing much at the ground reality to say that the Government is seized of the matter and one only has to look at the manner in which mega dams have come up at different points of the place to hammer home this point.

It was much before the onset of the rainy season that the people residing around Mapithel Dam raised a cry of caution and accused the Government of not doing anything much to rehabilitate the affected people.

Charges were piled against the Government and while nothing much is clear, apart from the fact that the people there are living in a state of uncertainty, it is the seeming silence of the Government which is hard to understand.

True, the Government may be facing a number of crises, but it is also important to remember that the flood threat under which the people around Mapithel Dam are living is something which could have been avoided if only some sincere thoughts had been applied to all the necessary process.

The grim prospect is real and while the Government may be taken to task for failing to come up with any concrete measure whenever the sky opens up at this point of time every year, the people too need to digest the fact that they also have a certain degree of responsibility.

Numerous rivers and streams in Manipur are today not in a position to carry the volume of water they are supposed to.

Throwing rubbish, particularly plastic bags and other non-perishable goods inside the natural water ways are to a large extent responsible for water clogging which results in floods.

A look at all the nullahs and the rivers passing through Imphal should illustrate this point.

Apart from disposing filth and non-perishable goods into the rivers and streams, encroachers too have considerably narrowed the width of the water ways.

It is not only in Imphal but in all the other major towns in the State.

As reported in The Sangai Express encroachers have had a damning impact on the free flow of the rivers at Churachandpur town and this is a matter of concern.

The rainy season is on and while the Government may come up with flood fighting measures such as keeping its machineries on duty round the clock it is also time for the people to come to the point that they too have contributed their mite in worsening the situation.

For the moment, the Government should see to it that all possible preventive and remedial steps are taken up at the places around Mapithel Dam.