Loktak Lake Scam: Much More than Just Unaccounted Transfers

Members of the former Loktak Development Authority (LDA) in Manipur have been implicated in a Rs 224 crore scam and the chief accused among them is the former CM O Ibobi Singh. The others are project engineers, Ch. Gojendro Singh and Th. Ibobi Singh. 

The scam is related to the clearing of biomass from the iconic Loktak Lake. The Lake is known for its floating biomass, locally called ‘phumdis’. These phumdis consist of such dense organic matter that they resemble floating islands. The uniqueness of this natural phenomenon made Loktak Lake a designated wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention in 1990. In 1993, it was listed in the Montreaux Record. 

However, by then the 66 MW Loktak Hydroelectric Project had already been passed in 1983. Prior to achieving a status under the international conventions, the lake had existed as the home to a large community of fisherfolk. The Project initially submerged around 80,000 acres of the surrounding farmland, which pushed the cultivators to start jhum cultivation on the hill-slopes around the lake. The subsequent run-off resulted in the accumulation of biomass in the lake, which then began forming more phumdis. The rise in the number of phumdis led the Government of Manipur to pass the Manipur Loktak Lake (Protection) Act, 2006. Under this Act, the Loktak Development Authority (LDA), chaired by the then CM O. Ibobi Singh, was constituted. The LDA was tasked with overseeing the clearing of the excess biomass. This, in turn, led the fisherfolk to be declared as ‘encroachers’, thus dispossessing them of their property and livelihood.

According to Erendro Leichombam, Convener of the People’s Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA), Ch. Gojendro Singh had been serving as the Chief Engineer of the Education Department. At the time of the scam, he was a project director associated with the LDA. However, despite being implicated in the scam he was not transferred. Recently, due to a sting operation, he was caught red-handed demanding and accepting bribes on camera. The video went viral on social media and the government was forced to suspend him. The other project director, Th. Ibobi Singh had until recently been serving as the Chief Information Commissioner of the Manipur State Information Commission. Erendro Leichombam and the Manipur Information Commission website both confirmed that he has neither been suspended nor removed from his position.

According to Leichombam, the entire scam began when the O Ibobi Singh government began paying mobilisation funds to K Pro Infra Works Pvt. Ltd. According to ZaubaCorp, the company was constituted in 2009, with an authorised capital of Rs. 1 crore, and a paid-up capital of Rs. 2 crores. Yet according to Leichombam, the company was paid Rs. 17 crores by the O Ibobi Singh government. The Directors of this company are Rajasekhar Paturi, Praveenkumar Reddy Sreepuram, and Venkataraman Balaji. The company is based out of Nilgiri Apartments on Barakhamba Road in New Delhi. 

What is perhaps the most troubling part of the entire scam is the compensation that was needed to be paid to the families displaced from the phumdis. According to Leichombam, between the 700 and 800 houses that were burned down by the government, only around 500 people have been compensated. The rest are still fighting for their compensation. A 2015 documentary by the Centre for Research and Advocacy Manipur (CRA Manipur) displayed the stark reality of the affected people’s lives. They were met with brutality at every stage of their protest against having their homes and livelihoods taken away. They decried the meagre compensation of Rs 40,000 with which they were somehow supposed to rebuild their lives. Leichombam mentioned that each family on average has around five members, “we’re talking about 3,000 to 4,000 people” he said.

Speaking to Newsclick Leichombam said, “if the BJP government is sincere about the scam, I think they should first think about the families affected. They should be given the fair compensation they deserve, and I think Rs 40,000 for burning down somebody’s house and making them homeless is a really meagre amount. It should not be 40,000 it should be 40 lakhs.”

It has been reported that the BJP had filed a defamation suit against Leichombam for raising these very issues. On this he said “the BJP Manipur Pradesh has filed a defamation case against me and it is all over the news, but they haven’t sent me the court papers, or the notice for it.” In a similar vein he said, “even though they have flashed it all over the local news, they still haven’t sent me their defamation case filings from the court. So, it points to the fact that they were just trying to scare me, and they realized they made a big mistake by doing that.”