IMPHAL, July 1: In what could be termed as an odd discovery, not a single copy of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Loktak Hydro Electric Project’s was available with the Electricity department of Manipur.
The discovery was made by an RTI appellant, one Kambam Seityajit, 36, s/o Kambam Ibohal Singh of Khurai Chingangbam Leikai, while seeking information under the Right to Information (RTI), Act, 2005 on Loktak Project.
In the extract copy of the response made available to the media, the appellant had sought information if any agreement existed between the electricity department and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (NHPC) while the Loktak project was transferred to the NHPC limited.
In response to the question the chief engineer, (power) electricity department stated that no official records are available in this office about the transfer of the project to NHPC and any agreement thereof. He further speculated that all formalities could have been done before the establishment of the electricity department, in the year 1971.
The appellant claimed the response as misleading and false. On contrary to the response of the chief engineer, he stated that the NHPC was formed in the year 1975 much later than the electricity department, Government of Manipur which was seperated from the Public Work Department, Government in the year 1971 and held that it will not be possible for the NHPC to execute Loktak Hydro Electric Project without any agreement with the state.
Besides that the appellant further claimed that as per his findings the Loktak Hdyro Electric Project’s DPR was prepared in the year 1965 when the Electricity department was associated with the PWD and many copies of such DPR are available in different courts for adjudication of various disputes in the state of Manipur.
On the pretext of the non availability of the DPR the chief engineer further mentioned that it could not provide information for rehabilitation of individuals who had been affected by the said project.
The appellant further stated that the official data available on June 19, 2011 shows that the demand met for power in the state was 58 MW at 0800 hours and the total requirement was shown to be as 65 MW as requested by the electricity department to the Power System Operation Corporation Limited, Shillong. And power supply position at 2000 hours demand met is shown as 49 MW against 90 MW, which is quite contradictory as that of the respondent’s figure of 110 MW at peak hours during summer, according to the extract copy of the response made available to the media.
In terms of state wise power supply position in Million Unit (MU) the requirement of Manipur is shown to be 1.330 MU against the consumption of 1.096 MU which is quite low as compared to that of Meghalaya state consumption of 4.153, MU against their requirement of 5.626 MU which is about the same size and population as Manipur, the appellant further mentioned.
While noting the chief engineer’s response that there is no provision of uninterrupted power supply or VIP line in existing system the appellant further contradicted the claimed stating that uninterrupted power supply are being supplied to certain brick fields in the valley areas as well as certain top contractors, sub-contractors, highly influential individuals, bureaucrats etc and opined that he could furnish sufficient evidence to prove his assertion at any point of time.
The extract copy further showed that the electricity department was found to be having no technical audits and no branch office of the joint electricity regulatory commission for Manipur and Mizoram at Imphal.