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Wednesday, Jun 29, 2005

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Myanmar refugees rally against NHPC plant

Staff Correspondent

`Project will displace 3,600 Kukis, submerge 17,000 acres of farm land'

NEW DELHI: : Hundreds of Myanmarese refugees, under the banner of the Anti-Tamanthi Dam Campaign Committee (ATDCC), held a demonstration here on Tuesday to protest against the construction of a 1,200 MW power plant, coming up in the Kuki-dominated tribal area of Myanmar. The power plant is being constructed with the help of the National Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC).

In a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, and the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of NHPC, the protesters said the dam would displace 3,600 ethnic Kuki people from 35 villages and submerge 17,000 acres of agricultural land. "All the manual works, will be for sure done by the local Kukis by use of force, thus leading to human rights abuses against the local population,'' the memorandum said. The committee also alleged that 80 per cent of the power generated from the plant, was likely to be exported to India to strengthen ties between the two countries.

`Stop investments'

Appealing to the Indian Government to stop the Tamanthi project which would "in no way benefit the local Kuki people," the memorandum said all forms of investments in Myanmar should also be stopped until genuine democracy was restored, as the investment was strengthening the military dictatorship and supporting its strategy to subjugate the indigenous people.

Threat to wildlife

The proposed dam site being part of Myanmar's largest national park, the flooding would threaten the habitats of many endangered wild species including tigers, leopards, rhinos, Asian golden cats, gorillas and hornbills.

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