Displacement by rain is normal at some localities

Yaiphaba Meitei Kharibam
IMPHAL, Feb 10 : It may sound absurd but displacement of people by seasonal rainfall has become a normal affair at some localities.  
Nowadays displacement is a very common word in Manipur and it generally refers to displacement caused by violence and arson.
In addition to these victims of violence and arson, there are other people who are suffering from a different kind of displacement.
This second type of displacement is caused by heavy rains or floods. In this case of displacement too, the victims suffer a lot.
There are many households at Wangkhei Yonglan Leirak, Imphal East under Yaiskul Assembly segment which get flooded every time there is moderate to heavy rainfall. As a result, the families get displaced every  year, sometimes several times in a year.
There are many families who cannot still go back home after their homes were inundated by floods last year.
A 60-year old bed-ridden woman who was evacuated from Palace Compound after the area was flooded last year never again saw her home as she died on January 14 this year. Her family members are still unable to go back home.
One Yumlembam Babahini of Yonglan Leirak told The Sangai Express that they are compelled to leave their home every time there is moderate to heavy rainfall.
“At such times of crisis, we usually take refuge in multi-storeyed buildings of relatives or rented rooms, not affected by flood”, she said.
Babahini said that they suffer a lot physically, psychologically and economically every time they were compelled to leave home due to floods.
She said that even unwoven clothes on looms got ruined.
What remained after the floods were just beds, almirahs and the dilapidated house with broken walls, she said.
“In such a situation, we can only cry and curse our fate”, the woman said and added that did not receive any kind of assistance from the Government even though they were displaced by floods several times.
“If the Government takes up some relief measures for the people displaced by floods as it does for people displaced by violence, the trauma we suffer every time clouds gather in the sky will be addressed to a large extent”, she said.
Of all the localities of Yaiskul AC, Ward No 20 which include Wangkhei Laishram Leirak, Pukhrambam Leirak, Hijam Leirak, Wangkheimayum Leirak, Lourembam Leirak,  Yonglan Leirak, Keithel Ashangbi  and Ningthem Pukhri Mapal, Yonglan Leirak is the most low-lying  area.    
According to the State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC), the annual rainfall rate in Manipur during the last 60 years varied from 956.5 mm to 2268.9 mm.
It is estimated that the annual rainfall rate will rise significantly in the State in the next 15 to 19 years.
These days, the residents of Yonglan Leirak have made the foundations of their houses quite high.
Even though the families have invested huge amounts in the foundations alone, they are still facing floods, said one 74-year old RK Angousana.
He said that Wangkhei Yonglan Leirak has been facing this situation of extreme vulnerability to floods since the last 30 years.
With the locality facing floods every time there is moderate to heavy rainfall, most of the residents have learned to make rafts and adapted well to movement under flooded conditions, Angousana said.
Apart from making the house foundations considerably high, every family has  cultivated a habit of keeping household articles on elevated platforms or hung up on walls. They have also made arrangements to take their vehicles to dry grounds at times of rainfall or flood, he said.    
Even though the people have been facing the misery of floods every now and then, the Government remains totally indifferent, he continued.
The Government’s project of constructing concrete roads cover Yonglan Leirak too and the construction work is going on at present. But the surface of the road being constructed is around 3 feet below last year’s flood level, Angousana said.
Although the local people have asked to raise the road surface above the flood level, the authorities have not been listening, he said.
If the road is constructed below the flood level, the local people will continue to wade through water every time there is flood or heavy rainfall, he said.
Pointing out that the Lairamlen canal which drains the locality now exists for only name’s sake, Angousana appealed to the Government to restore the canal to its past breadth and depth.
He said that the annual issue of floods can be addressed to a considerable extent if Lairamlen canal is restored to its past breadth and depth.
72-year Bijoy of Wangkheimayum Leirak said that they pack their clothes whenever clouds gather in the sky.
He also highlighted the need for the Government as well as citizens to take up necessary steps in order to face the impacts of unpredictable rainfall and environmental change.
He urged the Government to take up climate resilient steps.
Conflicts among men can be resolved through dialogue but conflict between mankind and the environment cannot be resolved through dialogue.
The best way to resolve this conflict is avoiding the conflict, Bijoy added.