Will face extreme difficulty if the Loktak Lake is not saved — Manipur minister

Our Correspondent

Imphal, June 10 (EMN): Manipur’s Forest, Environment and Climate Change Minister Awangbow Newmai on Wednesday cautioned that the people of the state will face extreme difficulty in the near future if the Loktak lake is not saved.

So to save and protect the future and life of the people of Manipur, it is necessary to safeguard the Loktak Lake, Newmai said.

Newmai was speaking at the reception-cum-felicitation programme organised by the Loktak Development Authority (LDA) in Imphal on Wednesday.

Chairman L Sushindro Singh of LDA, additional chief secretary (Forest) MH Khan, project director L Bhagaton Singh of LDA led officials attended the function.

Stating that the Loktak Lake is the source of life for the people of Manipur and survival will be difficult without its existence, he said the state is facing water scarcity both in the valley and in the hills.

Expressing serious concern over the drying up of rivers and water bodies of the state, he opined that if all the rivers of the state dry up in the future, than the last resort would be using the water of lake.

Cautioning that a day will come when we will fully depend on the lake water, he said at present the lake is endangered by various elements such as encroachment, reduction in water level among others. 

Assuring full cooperation from his side and welcomed ideas and suggestions from the officials of the LDA, he hoped that with the joint cooperation between the government, LDA officials and the people of the state will surely pave a way to save the lake.

In the day’s reception, superintendent engineer Ng Sanajaoba Singh of LDA presented a detailed power-point presentation on “Conservation and Management of Loktak Lake”.

It may be mentioned that LDA was established in 1987 and it functioned under the aegis of Irrigation and Flood Control Department and later reassigned to the Forest and Environment department. The LDA was reconstituted as a statutory body enacting the Manipur Loktak Lake (Protection) Act, 2006. In 2019 it was mandated to manage the other associated wetlands such as Pumlen, Ikop, Kharung, Khoidum among others, according to official sources.