Tripura oustees reclaim dam land

Agartala, May 2: After nearly 35 years of being ousted from their area for commissioning of Tripura's lone hydro-electric project Dumbur at Gumati, 40,000 tribals are now flocking to reclaim land emerging from the dam's reservoir following a sharp drop in the water level.

Though the oustees had been demanding decommissioning of the project for long, the recent development in the reservoir had further aggravated the claim. But the state government refused to allow anybody to settle down on the land emerging from the reservoir.

According to Tripura State Electricity Board, there was hardly any water in the dam's reservoir to generate power but the administration was reluctant to abandon the project as yet, though the electricity production had completely stopped since March.

Talking to UNI here today Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey said, ''It's true that sufficient water isn't there in the dam's reservoir but we are not saying goodbye to the project under any pressure''.

He said a rise in the reservoir's bed due to heavy silting around the Gumati hydel project is believed to be responsible for the crisis. The project not only disturbed the fragile ecology but also inflicted a permanent sense of loss on the tribal psyche.

The Gumati hydel project was commissioned in 1974, despite fierce protests by nearly 8000 indigenous tribal families whose fertile land went under water, however, only 2558 families were compensated because most tribesmen had no land records to prove ownership.

All tribal organisations, including the Communist-backed Gana Mukti Parishad, had protested the commissioning of the Gumati hydro-electric project in 1976.

It was determined to augment Tripura's deficit power supply but it ended up augmenting the catchment area of tribal unrest by dispossessing thousands of them of their land, the only economic resource and collective symbol.

UNI