Our correspondent
Imphal, Feb. 26 (EMN): Manipur Forest and Environment Minister Thounaojam Shyamkumar on Tuesday said that the department will not take any decision hastily in announcing the bird sanctuary at Thingingei village area in Bishnupur district.
The measures currently being taken up will not be the final. The step will be taken after consulting the concerned stakeholders including the local MLA and others, said Shyamkumar.
Shyamkumar was responding to the motion for disapproval of policy cut by five opposition congress MLAs during the demand discussion on Environment and Forest department at the ongoing assembly session.
The minister’s statement came a day after a public meeting to welcome the announcement of Manipur’s first bird sanctuary at Thingungei village under Bishnupur district.
On Sunday, many speakers including common man, nature loving persons, environmentalists and officials have expressed the need to have a bird sanctuary to have a better environment friendly sustainable future for the people living around Loktak.
Loktak and its associated wetlands in Manipur becomes stopover site of many birds including rare migratory birds mostly waterfowls during winter and Thinungei, a village on the western side of the lake, becomes one of the most important place after the experts detected the large number of waterfowls at the proposed Thingungei sanctuary site during winter since the beginning of bird census on Loktak in 2011.
According to the functionaries of UCT, a conglomeration of 13 organisations of Thingungei area said that proposed area as per the government notification is 103.10 hectares (1.031 sq. km) which comprises of 13.93 hectares of swampy area, 35.37 hectares of floating biomass (phumdi) and 53.80 hectares of open water.
The total state land in the eastern side of Thinungei adjoining Loktak Lake is about 84.3 hectares. Of which only 13.93 hectares is under the bird sanctuary and remaining 70.3 hectares is being encroached. Similarly there are also reports of encroachment in northern and southern side of the proposed sanctuary.
Besides fishing by electrocuting, poisoning and poaching of waterbird are also against the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and Environment Protection Act, 1986.
On the other hand Joint Action Committee (JAC) formed against the announcement of bird sanctuary demanded to revoke the government notification.
