No Road Through Our Home

In order to further promote awareness and transparency on aid management, the Reality of Aid-Asia Pacific (RoA-AP) and CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness - Asia (CPDE Asia), through the CSO Aid Observatorio, assists in the CSO Campaigns or advocacy campaigns of communities or grassroots and people’s organizations for the assertion of their democratic rights and for seeking transparency and accountability from government and other providers. 

The  Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manipur (CRA)  undertook a series of initiatives for its CSO Campaign, which aimed to advance the rights of the communities negatively impacted by the Imphal Town Ring Road Project financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Imphal Ring Road Project is a part of ADB’s South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Road Connectivity Investment Programme, which will construct a 46-kilometer long and 30-meter wide infrastructure in Manipur, India. While the project was initiated in 2014, it is still under negotiation between the project authorities and the affected communities. From the start of the project, the people have been protesting the road development, as it will cause environmental degradation and widespread displacement of the Indigenous Peoples of Manipur. 

The initiatives by CRA, which started in September 2021, includes the mobilization of affected communities to safeguard their rights from the negative impacts of development projects, and to campaign and engage with the Government of Manipur, Government of India and the ADB to stop the project. These efforts were conducted by consolidating and consulting the affected communities, undertaking detailed impact assessments, maximizing available grievance mechanisms, and publicizing the campaign, as part of fostering effective development cooperation in Manipur.

Consulting the affected communities

CRA undertook a series of awareness consultations with villagers affected by the Imphal Town Ring Road, especially by the lack of implementation of the ADB of its policies on safeguards, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and land acquisition and resettlement. There were several sessions held, on September 18 at Tharon Village, on October 3 at Khurai Konsam Leikai and on October 10, with the villagers of Langthabal Chingthak. 

On October 16, CRA and the Youth Forum for Protection of Human Rights (YFPHR) organized a   joint consultation with all the affected villagers , at the Manipur Press Club. The participants resolved that the Government of Manipur and the ADB should not build the Imphal Ring Road Project without the consent of all affected Indigenous communities. Furthermore, the government should withdraw the eviction notices served to the villages of Tharon, Langthabal Chingthak, and to other villages affected by the project. The affected villagers also agreed on submitting complaints to the project authorities, calling for project implementation and forced eviction to stop in their areas.  

The consultation also resulted in the establishment of the Ring Road Joint Action Committee, which was formed to coordinate the response of affected communities in upholding their rights and seeking justice from the government, the ADB and its partners. 

On November 19, a training orientation,  “Awareness & Consultation on the Asian Development Bank and Development Effectiveness” , was held at Khuman Lampak Youth Hostel. This was organized in preparation for the filing of a complaint to the ADB’s Accountability Mechanism. 

Resource speakers oriented the participants on the ADB’s role in pursuing corporate-led development in India, and how this affects the daily lives and rights of the people. A background on the road infrastructure project in Imphal was also given, with the villagers sharing their direct experiences with the faulty project implementation of the bank and its partners. At the end of the event, the participants urged the government, corporate bodies and the ADB to uphold the development effectiveness principles and to genuinely adhere to and implement the safeguard policies of the bank. 

Protest against the Imphal Town Ring Road

Under the leadership of the Joint Action Committee, a  community meeting was held  on  October 24 at the Khurai Konsam Leikai Community Hall. The meeting was attended widely by different sectors, including women, youth and the elderly, from Khurai Konsam Leikai, Kongba and Tharon villages in Imphal East and West Districts. The affected villagers also organized a symbolic protest urging the ADB and the national and local government, to respect the Free, Prior, Informed Consent (FPIC) of affected communities, to stop forced eviction, and to uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights.  

Documentation and research

From these consultations, testimonies of participants regarding the negative impacts of the project were well-documented. The audio-visual documentation of these impacts highlighted how the project affected the Indigenous Peoples’ land, livelihood, rights, culture and tradition. In addition to the existing research of CRA and the available public data from the government and the ADB, the information gathered from consultations was used in filing complaints and engaging with development actors. 

Direct engagement with development actors 

Petitions and urgent appeals were sent out to various development actors, including the Government of Manipur, Manipur Human Rights Commission, Office of the Prime Minister of India and Ministry of Tribal Affairs. These appeals called for these actors to take the necessary steps in upholding the rights of the affected communities. 

Petitions were also submitted to ADB’s India Resident Mission in New Delhi. The urgent appeals issued have garnered solidarity from various civil society organizations locally and internationally.  Partner organizations  provided technical support in seeking detailed information from the ADB on its projects in Imphal, and in ensuring protection of the communities as they filed the complaint to project authorities.

Public advocacy

For the advocacy to reach the public, various print and digital media were published consistently and disseminated widely. The content on the ADB-financed project highlighted the challenges and demands faced by the communities, as the Imphal Town Ring Road was being pursued. 

CRA published articles in their website and social media, which was also  shared by various media sites  in Manipur, focusing on the major impacts and demands of the IP communities affected by the Imphal Ring Road. CRA also invited media outlets to  cover the organized consultations and mobilizations  for the project. Several media franchises extensively covered the campaign, reporting on the affected peoples’ assertion of rights and their demands to the various development actors involved in the project.

Along with the communities in Manipur, CRA continues to call for an end to the corporatization of development, which has only violated the rights of the Indigenous Peoples and contributed to further environmental degradation. The ADB and its project partners, as well as the national and local government, must ensure that development projects are democratically owned by the people, peoples’ rights are upheld and they remain accountable and transparent in their implementation.