Imphal, Jun 04: Upon the receipt of a special inquiry from the UN office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, Centre for Organisation Research and Education (CORE) has submitted the detailed information highlighting the impending impact of the proposed Tipaimukh (Multipurpose) Hydroelectric project to the Secretariat of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Food.

The UN inquiry specially mentioned the likely impacts of the projects on the livelihoods and environment of the indigenous and tribal people of Manipur and the CORE report include extensive documentation of the concerns and apprehensions raised by community leaders, civil organisations, environmentalists and other experts over the past 15 years.

It is said that CORE had accessed to the official records of the Manipur Legislative Assembly with regard to the Tipaimukh Dam.

According to the records, over the past years, the House has never passed a resolution entirely overturning its first resolution that strongly and clearly objected to the Tipaimukh Dam giving very specific grounds (Resolution No.10 of 1997).A CORE statement signed by its director Dr Debabrata Roy Laifungbam pointed out that contrary to popular beliefs based on earlier reports, it has been established clearly that the House of elected leaders of the State had only given its go-ahead for the survey and investigations required to establish the feasibility of the Tipaimukh Dam and submit a fresh report for its consideration (Resolution No.71 of 1999).The present attempt by the Manipur State Pollution Control Board to hold public hearings under the EIA notification, 1994 (Amended 1997, etc) is based on an incomplete application from NEEPCO, the CORE statement said quoting 'reliable sources'.

In the light of these revelations, the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the Commissioner (Power), Govt of Manipur and the NEEPCO with claimed Cabinet backing is against the interest of the people of Manipur and has no approval of the elected legislators of the State.

The 1997 concerns of the legislators were that the project report prepared in 1984 was not at all satisfactory with regard to the rehabilitation and resettlement, environment and seismic risks to be incurred by the State of Manipur and till date these concerns are yet to be adequately or convincingly answered by the project proponent, i.e.NEEPCO, the CORE statement asserted.

The NEEPCO environmental impact studies shared at Mizoram public hearings of December 2004 also did not take into account that storage dams are intended to alter the natural distribution and timing of streamflow through the riverupstream and downstream, the statement further pointed out.

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