IMPHAL, July 2: The Mapithel Dam Affected Villagers Organisation strongly objects the office notification of the executive engineer, Thoubal Project Division I, IFCD Manipur published in local newspapers on June 30 warning the villagers of Chadong to shift within 15 days.
A statement of the association signed by its chairman Themson Jajo said the very notice is an imposition and illegal as it contradicted para 8 (page 52) of the rehabilitation plan of the oustees 1998 where it states that `the rehabilitation plan would be completed before 1 year of the completion of the project`.
Additionally, the current notice is also a violation of the High Court stay order of April 25, 2012 in which it is clearly stated that `agreement dated September 24, 2011 for RnR package shall not be given effect to until further order, it said.
It said Chadong is gradually being submerged and like animals the villagers are asked to move to a government designated site.
Rehabilitation and resettlement is about rebuilding a new village with all amenities and new life skills that allows better life as they have sacrificed the ancestral homes for the greater common good, it observed adding that the farmlands have been submerged long since.
The statement said it may be mentioned here that except for ground leveling, the land allotted for `relocation`™ is bereft of the basic requirements for a person to live with dignity and respect. It is almost as if the human rights of the villagers, having been snatched with the construction of the dam, may be abused and violated over and over again. We are concerned and extremely suspicious of the present government who have the audacity to ask the villagers to move to a place where there is not even amenities for drinking water- a basic right to life and survival? There have been no proper plans for livelihood, it said.
The criminal intent and action will be met with legal action and resistance by the villagers who have withstood this far and still continuing, it said.
MDAVO would like to reiterate in a final note that the final comments and recommendations by the Expert Review Committee (ERC) on RnR constituted by the government of Manipur on January 18, 2008 as per Order of Governor of Manipur letter dated No. 20/1/2005-IFC(Pt) be made at the earliest before the angst and agony of the submerging village and villagers take over, it said.