Day: April 25, 2012

Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation, comprising of 20 civil and democratic rights organisations from across India decided to undertake a fact finding into the impact of big/mega dam projects coming up in the North Eastern states on the life and livelihood of the people. Reportedly more than 168 MoUs/MoAs have been signed by the Arunachal Pradesh government alone. CDRO believes that such projects, be they so called Run of the River or Storage dams, affect not only people whose land will get submerged upstream but also people living in the downstream area. We also believe that affected people comprise those whose life and livelihood is intricately linked with the river beyond, since water flow will impact agriculture, fisheries, river transportation. Construction of concrete dams in a high seismic zone with sedimentary rock is in itself a mark of utter irresponsibility. Besides, natural floods carry sediments while man-made flood through construction of dam brings sand which destroys cultivable land. Also worth noting is that the seven North Eastern states are plagued by multiple problems born of neglect, discrimination and exploitation of resources accompanied by fear of the people about demographic transformation with the influx from outside threatening their way of life and further militarisation of the region.
The team split into two groups; one headed towards upper Assam and another towards Tipaimukh dam site. The first team visited North Lakhimpur, Dhimaji in Assam and Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh covering Lower Subansiri, Lower Siang and also downstream area of Lohit and Dibang river projects in Tinsukhia district. The second team visited Tipaimukh project which would affect people living in Manipur, Mizoram and Assam.
Given below are highlights of what people felt would be the consequence of the projects on their life and livelihood:
I. FIRST TEAM REPORT:
1. Lower Subansiri is allegedly a Run of the River project with storage capacity which would submerge 70 sq kms upstream.
The 2000 MW project is being constructed for NHPC by Larsen and Toubro and Soma when fully constructed will have a height of 115 metres. While officially only 31 families would be displaced according to Walter Fernandes, no less than 700 families would be affected. About 3436 ha of forest land would also get submerged and wildlife habitat. Lower stream the impact would be even worse since fear of river drying, fluctuation in water flow, likely increase in deposit of sand over presently cultivable land, destruction of aquatic life which destroy livelihood of 39 lakh fisherfolk, not to forget river transportation. The man-made flood created by 405 MW Ranganadi dam on 14th June 2008 was repeatedly referred to by people to remind us of the possible damage that can be caused to life and livelihood by natural or man-made flood. The difference between peak and lean flow, according to people, is such that likelihood of flash flood increases manifold.
The nature of protest currently in form of four month long blockade of vehicular traffic carrying construction or other equipment meant for the dam, is a clear sign of collective resistance.
2. Lower Siang is again allegedly a Run of the River project with storage capacity which would submerge and restrict habitation in upto 106 kms. Apart from this at height upto one km has been declared as no-man’s land and reserved for compensatory forestation for the company. The 2700 MW project was awarded to Jaiprakash Industries. Siang’s Adi community considers the river as sacred and fears that 35 villages would be affected. Thus their community land which is cultivable and rich in flora and fauna would be wiped out. . IN 34 villages ninety percent of people have affirmed through signature their opposition to the dam. They fear that their culture and people face annihilation. It is this that drove them to protest the construction of dam recently. And fear mixed with anger remains strong among people here.
Lower stream people, especially Mishing community, reside along the river bank. They along with others who live in the plains downstream apprehend that their livelihood would be wiped out since river flow would both impact cultivation as well as fishery on which most of the people depend.
3. Lower Dibang is a 3000 MW storage dam of NHPC with a height of 288 metres which submerge 45 kms upstream wiping out 30 villages. This will affect nearly 50% of Idu-Mishmi community and their community land. If the argument of development and employment opportunities do get created by this project then considering the skilled and qualified people among the Idu-Mishmi they stand to lose. We are told that this generates the fear that people from other parts of India would garner the maximum benefit.
This will also nullify whatever protection is offered by the Constitution. The agitation since 2006 has ensured that 11 times public hearing has had to be postponed.
The fear in the downstream area is once again that their life and livelihood would be adversely affected. We do wish to point out that the anti-dam movement is still in its infancy in these parts. But the fear is palpable.
4. Demwe Lower Hydro-electric Project has been given to Athena Demwe Power Ltd. and is said to be Run of the River project to generate 1750 MW and will submerge 26 square kms of land to make way for a reservoir. 1416 (One thousand four hundred sixteen) ha of forest would also be lost in the process. Its height is 163.12 metres. Public hearing was confined to an area of 5 kms below the dam site. One of the fallout of this project would be the damage caused to Dibru Saikhowa bio-diversity area as well as other bio-sphere reserve in Assam.
While people speak in downstream area about the consequence of the Lohit project on their land and livelihood it is yet to take an organised expression.
II. SECOND TEAM REPORT
1. The proposed Tipaimukh project conceived in 1970s and is being currently implemented by NHPC, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) and Govt. of Manipur, despite serious opinions of the people to the contrary. It will submerge around 25,822.22 hectares of land ONLY in Manipur apart from Mizoram. The project is going to destroy at least 7.8 mn full grown trees and bamboo bushes. It will be 162 mtrs in height and is supposed to produce 1500 MW of electricity. 12 villages with a population of 557 families /2027 ST people (of the Hmar and Zeliangrong tribes) will be displaced. Most of these figures were disputed by people and activists of organizations working in the area because effects of the dam on the people, land and environment of the down-stream areas have not been evaluated by the government agencies.
There has been a simmering of resistance to the proposed project. Some people perceive it as not only a dam but also a threat to their material existence and life, culture and history. There has been recently some rallies, as the cycle rally by the Village Women Coordination Committee on the 19 Feb Sangaithal area, (Imphal), Jointly organized demonstrations(as the 14th mar 2012 event at Nungba Bazar, Tamenglong )) etc. And the resentment is gathering momentum.
The statutory Public Hearings, for the project, has been fraught with problems and there has been a great deal of dissatisfaction over the way these have been manipulated. The public hearings started in the year 2004 (Darlawn, Mizoram) and continued sporadically till the last one at Tipaimukh on the 31st march 2008. People at Tipaimiukh, have told us categorically they were not heard and what was the decision of the Public Hearing, they said, had already been taken by the officials who had come. There has been a protest against Public Hearing also (Kaimai, Tamenglong district March 2008).
What we have listed above is only a small sample of the impact of the dam on life and livelihood of the people both upstream and downstream. The fact of the matter is that nearly every river will have several dams each; Lohit basin will have 10 dams, Subansiri basin 12, Dibang basin 12, Siang basin 39, Kaming basin 43….These figures can go up were all data made public by the Arunachal government. To build so many dams in an area which is earthquake prone carries incalculable risk for all living beings.
Each MoA is accompanied by monetary advance by project developer to the Arunachal Pradesh government at the time of signing the deal. This implies that the project gets sanctioned even before any of the mandatory reports and clearances is given.
This makes the entire scheme of building projects which will destroy the Brahmaputra and Barak basin and also Surma and Kushiara valley in Bangladesh a colonial project meant to benefit rest of India at the expense of North East. It is also of interest to note that maximum numbers of the projects have been awarded to private companies. Most of the projects lack Impact Assessment Studies. Indeed some which claim to have got this study done are confined to between 5 to 10 kms. Siang river project indeed claims that no agricultural land would be submerged whereas nearly every household in 35 villages would lose their cultivable land! The misinformation by the authorities is accompanied by deliberate attempt to hide the truth from the people by manipulating studies.
We demand:
Suspend construction activities until the cumulative impact study of the entire north east, which involves engagement with the people who will get affected by construction of these dams.
The fact finding was conducted by following organisations:
1. Asansol Civil Rights Association (ACRA), West Bengal
2. Coordination for Human Rights (COHR), Manipur
3. Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS)
4. Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR)
5. Organisation for Protection of Democratic Rights (OPDR), Andhra Pradesh
6. Peoples Union For Democratic Rights (PUDR), Delhi

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/mega-dams-in-north-east/

Ravinder Singh
Director (M&C), PIB, New Delhi.
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), in the year 2006, approved ‘in principle’ the setting up of Integrated Check Posts at 13 locations and Land Ports Authority of India as a statutory body. Integrated Check Posts are being constructed as a Plan scheme with an initial outlay of Rs. 635 crore during the 11th Five Year Plan. In the initial phase, 13 Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) were envisaged at major designated entry/exit points along India’s international land border. Of these, 7 ICPs are to be constructed in Phase I and 6 ICPs in Phase II. ICP Attari is the first to be completed. The other six ICPs planned in the first phase are, Raxaul and Jogbani in Bihar, Agartala (Tripura), Petrapole (West Bengal), Dawki (Meghalya) and Moreh (Manipur).
Need for ICPs
Existing designated entry and exit points on the international borders are characterized by unplanned growth leading to delays and traffic jams. The need to develop infrastructure was recognized by the Government and after due consultations and deliberations, the concept of Integrated Check Post was devised.
ICP is conceived as a sanitized zone having adequate passenger and freight processing facilities. The term integration refers to integration of sovereign functions and not of inter-modal integration of several transport modes such as; rail, road waterways etc.
The ICP concept being new in the country, the planning was carried out through regular consultations with sovereign authorities and stake holders. The plans thus prepared were deliberated at length by Empowered Steering Committee before approving them.
Facilitating Movement of Vehicles Across Border
The Western and Eastern border of India has the peculiarity of restriction on vehicles of originating country to be allowed beyond a designated point in the destination country. The planning of ICP at these locations provides solution to this limitation. In these situations, while most of our neighboring countries are relying on solution linked to time separation, we have adopted the space separation approach. The solution involves provision of separate delivery and collection zone within ICP. This is achieved by treating passenger terminal and warehouse as interface where, unloading is done along one face and loading on the other face.
Efficiency Inducing
The ICPs along Nepal Border are planned along the concept of primary and secondary checks to induce efficiency in regulatory process. This concept is similar to RED channel and GREEN channel witnessed at the airports. Government has initially identified 13 locations along the land borders of India seven out of the thirteen are placed under priority.
First at Attari
ICP Attari is the first one to be completed and was inaugurated by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on April 13, 2012 in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, Commerce Minister of Pakistan Makdoom Amin Fahim and Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab Province Md. Shahbaz Sharif. It has been constructed at a cost of about Rs.150 crores and is spread over 118 acres with dedicated passenger terminal building. Like other border crossing points, the existing facilities at Attari were also constrained. The Integrated Check Post not only provides planned and integrated facilities but also offer a new international gate removing restriction of timing.
The earlier arrangement did pose lot of strain on passengers crossing on foot, as they had to walk substantial distance to come to the existing custom building. The ICP Attari offers dedicated vehicles between Gate and passenger terminal. This would not only offer comfort to the passengers but also ensure orderly movement within ICP, removing avoidable burden on the security. The issue of movement of these vehicles from Wagah terminal to Attari terminal is already taken up with Pakistan and a favorable resolution is anticipated.
Passenger Terminal Building
The passenger terminal building is the focal point of passenger processing zone. It is a two storied building with total 9600 sq. m. area. The passenger terminal is planned on the lines of airport terminals. The Building has two wings, one for departing passenger and other for arriving passengers. Each wing has eight Immigration counters, two Baggage scanners and six customs counters. Numbers of these processing units are derived methodically by considering the average process time. The health facilities for detection isolation and reporting are provided in conformity to International obligations, besides providing basic medical assistance to passengers. The terminal offers linear flow with strategically placed signage for passenger guidance. Passenger facilities such as Baggage trolleys, Duty free shops, dispensers for foods & beverages, toilets, etc. are integral part of terminal facilities. Paraplegic facilities such as ramps, wheelchairs, handicapped toilets are included in the passenger terminal. It also has Tourist Information Centre, Vending Machines, Prayer Room and Child Care Room.
Jattha sheds have been provided along each face of the building to provide shelter and regulated flow of passengers into the terminal, to deal with sudden influx of passenger flow due to movement of pilgrimage groups.
Cargo Terminal
Cargo terminal building is a one and half storied structure, having total area of 4800 sqm. Unlike Passenger Terminal, Cargo terminal is an office complex having dedicated spaces for Sovereign agencies, Bank, Cargo handling agents etc. The cargo zone has total 55,000 sqm of parking area and warehouses having total area of 10,800 sqm. Majority of these warehouses are meant for receipt, inspection, trans-shipment and delivery of imported goods. Cold storage of 1500 MT capacity spread over 5 chambers, for perishable imported goods is part of cargo processing facility.
The flexible planning of ICP afforded development of segregated area to handle cargo in loose form. An area of 12000 sqm is developed with separate access system for Indian and Pakistani trucks, without disturbing the original traffic flow. An area of 99000 sqm is available for future augmentation of capacities.
Quarantine Facilities
The quarantine facilities including fumigation shed are part of ICP. Basic amenities for the truckers are available on arrival and departure side both.
Proper Surveillance
For the surveillance of the area, CCTV cameras and PA system are provided at strategic locations. 230 CCTV cameras have been placed at different locations for security. Control points on the road network are regulated through automatic boom barriers. Fire fighting and fire alarm system is in place. The complex is supported by 1800 KVA Electric sub-station with 100% power backup. A helipad is developed within the complex for quick and direct access to the complex.
Large green areas are being developed along both the faces of terminal building to offer a visual treat to the passengers. The building bears resemblance to the structures in Lutyen’s Delhi. The concept of providing such facade was selected to represent strength and receptiveness of the country. The road network in front of building is meticulously planned for each type of movement with no conflicts.
The construction of ICPs began in Feb’ 2010 and the period of construction envisaged was 14 months. However, as ICP Attari was the first project on a newly devised concept. The project started evolving with construction, additional works were identified, as necessary and were and ordered. Besides this, the ICP had bilateral issues such as, the joint agreement on location of new international gate and construction close to zero line. These bilateral issues took longer than anticipated. However, the construction was done expeditiously, accommodating the extra work and other impediments.
Frequent reviews, inspections were conducted by Senior Administrators and Engineers during the construction to ensure that the construction is progressing on agreed lines. Bilateral platform was formulated and frequent meetings were held to resolve the issues, acquire understanding, and update construction plans.
ICP Attari is a modern facility and is being appreciated by all concerned. With the completion of ICP, the larger picture that shall emerge now would depend on efficiency of operations and the capacity constraint on other side of the border, if any.
The Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) is to provide better administration and cohesive management of entry points/land ports and entrusted with the task of development and management of Integrated Check Posts on the land borders and would be vested with the powers on the lines of similar bodies like Airports Authority of India. The Land Ports Authority of India has been established from 1st March, 2012 as a statutory body which will function as a body corporate under the administrative control of the Department of Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs.
As regards running the ICP efficiently sovereign authorities are already moving in, Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) is given the responsibility to function as custodian in accordance with customs regulations. Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has been given the responsibility of catering and passenger facilitation. The capacity harmonization issues are already flagged in recent meetings with Pakistani delegation. The valuable experience gained during the planning and construction of ICP Attari is being used in other ICP projects. (PIB Feature.)

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/integrated-check-posts-at-moreh/