Dam affected people demand written agreement on rehab

Aizawl, May 6 (UNI) People, affected by the proposed Tipaimukh hydel project, have been demanding a written agreement with the North East Electricity and and Power Corporation (NEEPCO) for their rehabilitation and submitted a memorandum to this effect, but their demands are still to be conceeded.

The proposed dam would span contiguous areas of Manipur and Mizoram.

''We have met NEEPCO officials a number of times, they have verbally agreed to our demands. The present officials may be replaced with new ones, hence we prefer a written demand,'' affected people's leader Lalpekliana told UNI.

The people of both Manipur and Mizoram were against the hydel project which will totally submerge 12 villages and will affect another 60 in Manipur, while in Mizoram it will affect only 15 to 20 villages.

Large areas of forest and cultivable land in Manipur would be destroyed.

''Since we cannot block it, we are demanding relief and rehabilitation, '' said Mr Lalpekliana.

According to sources, the base of the proposed dam is under earthquake-prone zone.

Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde laid the foundation stone of the project on December 19 last.

''Since the affected people are backward farmers, they are facing financial and language problems fighting for their rights,'' said an Aizawl-based human rights activist.

The affected people's association of Manipur and Mizoram had met Union Steel Minister Santosh Mohan Dev last year, who had forwarded their complaint to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Meanwhile, Zoram Nationalist Party president and MLA of Ratu which included the affected villages in Mizoram, has slammed the Mizoram government for ''not paying interest'' to the proposed dam.

''I have not seen any initiatives from the Mizoram government.

Not a single official from the Mizoram government attended the laying of the foundation stone,'' he said.

UNI