Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav pledges to preserve ecological and cultural significance of Manipur's Loktak Lake

Union Minister of Forest, Environment & Climate Change, Bhupendra Yadav, has assured the public that the government is committed to preserving the ecological and cultural significance of Manipur's Loktak Lake. Responding to questions raised by environmentalists, he listed the three major issues that resulted in the lake's inclusion in the Montreux Record, and the steps taken by the government to mitigate them.

Firstly, changes in water regimes led to the proliferation of phumdi, water quality deterioration, loss of migratory fish, and degradation of the Keibul Lamjao National Park habitat. Secondly, pollution from upstream areas accelerated phumdi proliferation and degraded water quality. Thirdly, the conversion of natural phumdi into fish farms reduced the lake's capacity to buffer water regimes.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has been providing financial assistance for this wetland since 1988-89 to the Government of Manipur for undertaking conservation activities like survey & demarcation, catchment area treatment, fisheries development, removal of phumdis, constructing water harvesting structures, small scale engineering works, creation of education and awareness etc. 

The Loktak Development Authority, Department of Forests, Govt. of Manipur is the implementing agency. So far, an amount of Rs 16.86 crore has been released by this Ministry to the Government of Manipur which includes an amount of Rs 428 lakh released during the year 2018-19. Further, the Integrated Management Plan (IMP) prepared by LDA has been examined by IIT Roorkee and certain suggestions have been given. The Ministry has asked the LDA to submit a revised plan addressing all issues related to conservation of Loktak Lake for endorsement of the Ministry for its implementation.

As informed by the State Government of Manipur, LDA has been taking up certain livelihood development activities for local communities who are dependent on Loktak Lake. The government, giving shape to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s vision of conserving our Amrit Dharohar, also intends to enhance livelihood opportunities of the local communities through developing eco-tourism infrastructure in and around the lake and need-based capacity building of local communities.
The integrated Management Plan prepared by the LDA envisages activities on ‘Sustainable Resource Development and Livelihoods’ that includes:
⦁    Community Managed Fisheries Strategy for Loktak aligned with FAO code of conduct of Responsible Fisheries
⦁    Enhancement of fish seed production
⦁    Development of harvest, post-harvest and marketing infrastructure
⦁    Community livelihoods (micro enterprises) programme
⦁    Development of Wetland linked Cultural heritage sites to promote tourism for diversification and value addition of existing fisheries based livelihoods 
⦁    Eco guide training for local communities

MoEF&CC has already taken up the issue of Ithai Barrage operation with the Ministry of Power and NHPC. After due deliberation, NHPC has agreed to lower the water level of Ithai barrage gradually to the drawdown level in the forthcoming winter season starting from November 2023 to rejuvenate KLNP habitat as per the technical report of 2011. With lowering of water levels in winters, the park habitat will improve along with improved circulation and flushing in the wetland.

As informed by the State Government of Manipur, commissioning of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and implementation of activities as envisaged in the Integrated Management Plan will substantially reduce loading of pollutants into the lake. The State Government has also commissioned the construction of STPs at Nambul with the financial assistance of Rs 100 crore provided under the NRCP scheme by NRCD for the effective functioning of existing waste management infrastructure. It will be commissioned by June 2023 to capture and treat waste from Imphal City and Nambul River and take care of the discharge of untreated sewage into Loktak.

The MoEF&CC has suggested the Government of Manipur to immediately submit an action plan along with a timeline and a map with clear demarcation of the wetland boundary following guidelines provided by MoEF&CC and as per provisions laid by the Ramsar Secretariat for removal of Loktak Lake from Montreux Record. The Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS) of Loktak is to be updated on priority basis by the LDA.

Loktak Lake in Manipur was designated as Ramsar site on 23.03.1990 under Ramsar Convention and being a Ramsar site, the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 are applicable to the lake. A brief document of the lake has already been prepared. RIS itself is a kind of brief document.

⦁    Loktak Hydroelectric Project was implemented before the EIA notification 1994 and 2006. Therefore, Environment Clearance of the Project was not applicable for the construction of the project. Works on the project commenced in 1971. The project was commissioned in year 1983.

⦁    NHPC has informed that for construction of Loktak project 217.09 ha of private land altogether had been purchased from landowners of 11 villages at different sites of the project. Full compensation was paid to land owners before land possession. Hence, Rehabilitation and Resettlement was not applicable at that time. 

The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has been providing financial assistance for this wetland since 1988-89 to the Government of Manipur for undertaking conservation activities like survey & demarcation, catchment area treatment, fisheries development, removal of Phumdis, constructing water harvesting structures, small scale engineering works, creation of education & awareness etc. Loktak Development Authority, Department of Forests, Govt. of Manipur is the implementing agency. So far, an amount of Rs 16.86 crore has been released by this Ministry to the Government of Manipur which includes an amount of Rs 428 lakh released during the year 2018-19.  No proposal was received from the State from FY 2019-20 to 2022-23. 

However, an Integrated Management Plan (IMP) of Loktak Lake was received in the Ministry for endorsement. The plan envisages to put in place Manipur River Basin scale actions, such as conserving catchment to control silt, abating pollution generated from upstream cities, demarcating wetland boundaries, managing water regimes and supporting livelihoods diversification of wetland dependent communities. IMP includes core and non-core activities in the lake area and its zone of influence (catchment, command areas, etc.). The IMP was appraised through IIT-Roorkee and observations given by IIT-R had been sent to the Govt. Of Manipur for revision of the IMP. The revised proposal is yet to be received by the Ministry. The MoEF&CC will consider the proposal on priority as per the cost sharing formula between the Central and State Government and the funding norms of NPCA. 

The State Government of Manipur has informed that community Managed Fisheries Strategy for Loktak aligned with FAO code of conduct of Responsible Fisheries will be formulated involving local fishing communities.
Fishing in Loktak Lake has been carried out since time immemorial. The fishermen are an integral part of the Loktak ecosystem. The state government is working to promote healthy capture fisheries, which ensures that ecosystem processes such as migration pathways, water quality and phumdi distribution are not adversely affected.