A one day sit-in protest on failure to honour Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed dated December 4, 2020 between the Water Resources Department, government of Manipur was held on Monday at 12 noon in Lamlai Khunao village.
According to the joint press release issued on Monday, the Mapithel Dam Affected Headmen, Chief Elders Organization (MDAHCEO) and Joint Action Committee Against Force Construction of Mapithel Dam (JAC-AFCMD), said it had submitted an ultimatum to the state government of Manipur on September 16 for implementation of agreed 19 points in the MoA dated December 4, 2020.
Due to the inaction by the state government on the organizations demand, volunteers of the affected villagers organized a strike/bandh for 48-hour from October 6 till 7 for Imphal to Kamjong road and Imphal to Ukhrul highway for implementation of the 19 agreed points MoA.
However, MDAHCEO and JAC-AFCMD said there was no answer till date from the state government. Therefore, the organizations are demanding to release the water reservoir and stop Mapithel Dam-Thoubal Multipurpose project with effect from October 11, Monday.
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M. Ngaranmi, Chairman, MDAHCEO, said “Today we are organizing this sit in protest against the government for violating the agreement. We are unhappy with the negligence. Therefore we are demanding the release of water reservoir and stop construction of the Dam. We were happy the way we were before the dam construction. We will utilize the natural river system for fishing and live sufficiently. Our lives have been changed drastically and we are exhausted.”
He further asked the media, print media and local dailies to extend their help.
The protesters were seen holding placards that say, “We want justice”, “No to Dam without solution”, “Release water”, “Respect our Rights”.