Watchdogs For Loktak Lake

Firms to ensure proper implementation of funds

Loktak lake in Manipur

Imphal, Oct 2 : The Manipur government has engaged two agencies to properly monitor the implementation and timely completion of work at Loktak lake so that the next phase of development can be taken up.

The Planning Commission has provided Rs 374 crore for the Loktak development project, work on which is in full swing.

The project covers phumdi (floating bio-mass) clearing, catchment conservation, water management, capacity-building of Keibul Lamjao National Park as well as sustainable development and alternative livelihood for people living on the phumdi and on the fringe of the lake.

The task of monitoring the development work has been entrusted to the Delhi-based firm, Development Alternatives, and the Water Institute of Karunaya University, Coimbatore. The government and the two agencies signed the terms of reference recently.

“The monitoring works is to be done in two phases. The first phase is expected to done by November or December this year and the second during the final phase of the project, which is March 2012,” the director of Loktak Development Authority (LDA), Th. Ibobi, told The Telegraph.

The LDA was constituted by the Okram Ibobi Singh government to take care of Loktak lake, which covers Bishnupur, Imphal West and Thoubal districts.

Th. Ibobi said the two agencies had already assessed the lake and the ongoing development activities.

The state government took up the project to save the Loktak environment, which has been polluted because of increasing phumdi and human interference.

This has poised a threat to the flora and fauna in and around the lake, including sangai, a threatened deer species. Keibul Lamjao, a swamp of floating phumdi located on the southeastern side of Loktak, is the only remaining natural habitat of the sangai.

To check pollution, the project will also take care of the pollutants that are brought in by the Nambul river that flows into the Loktak lake.

The Planning Commission wanted a third party to monitor the development at Loktak to ensure that funds sanctioned for the purpose were used properly.

“The Planning Commission has assured us that it will provide more funds after the ongoing project is completed, but this will depend on whether it is satisfied with its outcome. So monitoring is an important part of the project,” Th. Ibobi said.

Government spokesperson and irrigation and flood control minister N. Biren Singh said, “The chief minister, who is the chairman of the LDA, is taking a keen interest in the ongoing project because the government has ambitious plans to set up a water sports complex and an eco-tourism park at the lake.”