Hmar outfit to oppose construction of Tipaimukh hydel project

Aizawl, May 1 (UNI) The Hmar Peoples Convention (Democratic) has announced that it would oppose the construction of the Tipaimukh hydel project in Manipur.

In a statement issued here yesterday, the Hmar outfit claimed responsibility for the April 25 incident at Manipur's Tipaimukh area where drilling machines of the NEEPCO were destroyed.

''The incident was a deliberate and necessary act in the interest of safeguarding our ancestral land and our people from destructive intervention by the Manipur government and NEEPCO in the pursuit of imposing a dam,'' the statement said.

The HPC(D) alleged that the ongoing drilling work at the site of the proposed Tipaimukh Multipurpose project, undertaken by the NEEPCO and the Manipur government, involved the land, rights and dignity of the people living in the region, who would be further marginalised by the proposed project.

''The Tipaimukh multipurpose project will affect Hmar-habitated areas in Manipur and Mizoram,'' the statement added.

The HPC(D) statement said the manner in which the first public hearing was conducted in Tipaimukh on March 31 was unacceptable.

''The villagers of Tipaimukh were not even informed about the public hearing,'' the statement added.

UNI ZS DPM RL ND1515