Loktak dwellers take to protest against govt. move to evict them

A large number of fishermen whose livelihood is dependent on the Loktak Lake are now feeling threatened by the Manipur government’s ambitious plan to clean up the lake, and are demanding that govt. alter some of its clauses of the Manipur Loktak Lake Protection Act 2006, which prohibits fishermen from dwelling in and around the vicinity of the lake. The clause states that dwellers have been polluting the lake. However the irony is that more contamination has bee done by the garbage dumped by the municipality into the lake. The Loktak lake has come to occupy a place of pride in the map of Manipur…Located in Bishenpur district, Loktak is the only floating lake, on whose biomass humans have dwelt for years. The fisherman community has made Loktak their home, building huts over the biomass, earning their bread and butter from the fishes of the lake. It is this unique feature that has made Loktak a tourist destination. Now its face is going to be changed. The fishermen’s survival has been threatened and they are forced to take to protest just because the Manipur government sees their existence as a threat to the lake. The fishermen say they are not averse to cleaning the lake, which would be good for the state and for them, but it is one clause in the Manipur Loktak Lake Protection Act which is causing them worry. They are being held responsible for polluting the world famous lake. A large number of fishermen under the banner of All Loktak lake Floating Hut Dwellers Progressive Committee took out the silent protest rally from Moirangkhom in Imphal West and marched towards chief minister bungalow. They were obstructed by the police from proceeding further. The aggrieved fishermen are not happy with the Second clause of the Act which prohibits them from practicing their traditional mode of fishing, dwelling, cultivation etc. In fact almost everyone is solely dependant on the lake for survival and children’s education. It is fear about the uncertain future that has driven the people to protest. It is also irony that more than the people living on the lake, contamination in the lake has been fed more by the garbage dumped by the municipality and other activities. The clean Loktak project has already mired into a controversy, with crores of rupees estimated to be spent on it. Development works aside, the prohibition of the dwellers will change the face of the lake to a great extent.

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