Open Letter to the Prime Minister

Respected Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh,

I write with deep concern about the contentious Tipaimukh Hydroelectric Project on the confluence of Tuivai (Mizoram) and Barak (Manipur) rivers, for which you are scheduled to lay the foundation stone on November 25, 2006.
Surely you are aware that there is considerable local opposition to the project because of displacement of large numbers of people, and loss of their livelihood. Apart from that most important and entirely valid reason, the irreversible ecological damage that will certainly result due to submission and change in the water flow downstream of the proposed dam will impact first on the poor people of the region.

The conduct of the environmental public hearings without giving full freedom to people to voice their objections to the project has not been in the spirit of justice or democracy but rather, has been a sham exercise by the Central and State officials to satisfy the letter of the law but not its spirit. You may not be aware that the public hearing in Churachandpur on November 17, 2006 was held behind closed doors, allowing only a select few to participate, and that the venue was surrounded by armed security personnel while massive protests were held outside the venue. The public hearing held on November 22, 2006, in Tamenglong, Manipur, was not much different with regard to the intention of the officials. No doubt your office will receive the message that the public hearings were conducted normally and that there were a few minor objections that were answered on the spot, so that you may go ahead and lay the foundation stone. I am therefore sure that your advisors would have told you that your laying this foundation stone (which, incidentally, will make the decision about the project a fait accompli) is completely in order, and that you will get kudos for bringing development to distant Manipur. But do please note that until environmental clearance is granted, it will not do the onerous post of the Prime Minister any credit if you lay the foundation stone or in any other manner legitimise the project.

People who are displaced due to mega-projects, howsoever “compensated”, can never view the State favourably, even though the project is stated to be “for public good” or “in the national interest”. This is because the affected people naturally feel that they should be forced to pay in terms of their property, livelihood and their way of life for the benefit of some other groups of people. In our North-Eastern States, there is already much social and political turbulence, and pressing ahead with this project cannot in any manner ameliorate the present precarious situation maintained by military and police force. On the other hand, it can only exacerbate it.

As you are doubtless aware, before taking a decision with such far-reaching adverse consequences on the livelihoods and lifestyles of indigenous peoples, an expressed and informed consent from the people of such villages is necessary. In the current case, such a consent has not been taken, and in many cases it has already been denied. Do please verify this.

The proposed 390-metre long, 162.8-metre-high dam with an installed capacity of 1500 MW of power generation, will result in the total submergence of a large number of villages. This will affect more than 275 sq km of cultivable land and a total population of about 60,000. The majority of those permanently displaced will be from the Zeliangrong and Hmar indigenous peoples who will be deprived of the right to their land, livelihood, culture, forest and water. It would not be unfair to ask: where would these displaced people and people whose livelihoods are made unviable (with no skills other than their farming practices) go if not to the slums of towns and cities? It is highly unlikely that they will say, “We happily give up our today for the prosperity of urban people who need electric power, and God bless India! Bharat Mata ki Jai!”

The struggle against the dam, based on substantive issues, is intensifying and it will not do Manipur or India any great good by forcing a project onto these people to satisfy corporate interests. I will only mention the main issues without elaborating on them. They are :

• Undermining the rights of indigenous people.
• Contentious benefits from the project.
• Irreversible environmental damage.
• Impacts on downstream Bangladesh, complicating international relations.

I therefore appeal urgently to you to not lay the foundation stone, but on the other hand get briefed about the true situation on the ground by actually meeting affected people, since your official channels of information are not reliable to convey the mood of the people. Officials themselves sit in offices and get information and reports that they would like to hear, and these are passed up the official channels to your office. It is not for nothing that Gandhiji travelled (Third Class!) all over India to feel the people’s pulse. I need hardly mention that your name will be on that foundation stone as a constant reminder to the people of the region of the gross injustice that the country’s highest executive has perpetrated upon them.

With respectful regards,
Yours faithfully,
Maj Gen S.G. Vombatkere (Retd)