IMPHAL June 29: As the water level continues to rise, the visibility of the 30 meters high bridge connecting Chadong village is completely gone.
Water has flooded two foothill houses. Evacuation has started among some panicking villagers while some remain stoic about their position to defend their right. Since the single boat is unable to assist the villagers, several rafts are used for the transport of their goods. Children are also assisting in this hurried evacuation with their belongings.
Some of them said they will stay in a rented room at Yaingangpokpi.
United Naga Council (UNC), All Naga Student Association Manipur (ANSAM), Naga Women Union, Tangkhul Naga Long and Southern Tangkhul Naga Baptist Association visited the Chadong villagers today.
The UNC president Gaidon Kamei while drawing the attention of the government of India said this is not the way the citizens of the State should be treated.
Without any prior arrangements and preparedness about their safety and security, the State government is forcefully chasing out the people of the village, he said.
We strongly condemn such anti people policy and approach of the State government, he said.
It is distressing to deny a citizen rightful treatment and such kind of treatment further proofs that the Manipur Government is indeed a communal Government, he alleged.
Gaidon Kamei continued, Instead of settling peoples`™ demand by working out commonly agreeable points, the State government has forcefully bulldozed the rights of the people by using security forces.
The Chief Minister could have evaded such sufferings and problems by initiating a dialogue with the affected people and rightfully settling their grievances without creative such a provoking situation, he said.
We will not tolerate such actions and will response appropriately in the futuristic interest of the affected peoples, he said adding that we will seek the immediate intervention of the Prime Minister.
President of the All Naga Student Association Manipur(ANSAM), Seth Shatsang who also came with his executive team expressed his dismay.
We had foreseen this situation as such ANSAM have been protesting against this Mapithel Dam Project since the day the government signed the agreement, he said adding that the State government has however ignored the protest.
Chadong village is submerging and we await further rising of the water level to submerge the other villages as well, he said woefully.
The significant aspect of the Government`™s approach is the deployment of India Reserve Battalion, Manipur Police Commando and Manipur Rifles to flush out the villagers. It failed and now it has use water to forcefully evacuate the indigenous people from their habitat, he said.
For us, we consider nature as sacred and hence we will continue to struggle against such magnitude of human made detachment of the people with its rightful surroundings, he said.
The government who is supposed to provide us security has gone against our very security by infringing on our rights. Hence, we called upon the rightful intervention of the Governor, since he is the sole guardian of the hill peoples, he said.
Fisher folks from Loktak also came to assist the villagers with their experiences.