New Delhi:

Six rivers in Assam and Manipur, including Brahmaputra, and Barak, are experiencing severe flooding, putting numerous districts in the region at risk, the Central Water Commission has said. The Brahmaputra river at Neamatighat in Assam’s Jorhat district is flowing at 85.25 metres, which is 0.29 metres above its danger level of 85.54 metres, while the Barak river is in a severe situation.

In the Imphal East district of Manipur, the Barak River at Chotabekra is at 30.15 metres, 3.95 metres above its danger level. This significant rise poses a severe threat to the surrounding communities, according to the CWC data.

In Assam, the Barak River continues to impact various districts. At Badarpur Ghat in Karimganj district, the river is at 18.13 metres, 1.28 metres above the danger level while at Annapurna Ghat in Cachar district, it is at 21.52 metres, 1.69 metres above the danger level.

At Fulertal in Cachar district, the water level is at 25.94 metres, 2.06 metres above the danger level, showing a steady trend. At Dholai in Cachar district, it is at 24.9 metres, 0.32 metres above the danger level, with a falling trend.

The Kopili River at Kampur in Nagaon district is also in a severe situation, flowing at 62.08 metres, the Commission said, adding this level is 1.58 metres above the danger mark of 60.5 metres.

Although the trend is steady, the high water level remains a concern for the local population.

In Karimganj district, the Kushiyara river is at 16.5 metres, which is 1.56 metres above its danger level. The river’s steady trend indicates that immediate action is required to mitigate potential flood damage, the Commission said.

The Katakhal river at Matijuri is flowing at 22.23 metres, 1.96 metres above its danger level, while the Dhaleswari river at Gharmura is at 28.18 metres, 0.13 metres above its danger level. Though the water levels are currently falling, both rivers remain in a severe situation, necessitating vigilance, the Commission said.

Over two lakh people have been affected by the flood situation in nine districts of Assam following incessant rainfall in the aftermath of cyclone Remal, officials said.

Altogether, six people have died in the flood, rain and storms in the state since May 28, they said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Guwahati:

The Election Commission of India has declared polling “void” for the Lok Sabha elections at six polling stations in the Outer Manipur Parliamentary constituency. Fresh polling will be held in these stations on Tuesday (April 30), the Chief Electoral Officer of Manipur said in a press release.

Polling was held on Friday at 848 polling stations in 13 of the 28 Assembly segments under the Outer Manipur Parliamentary seat. The 15 other Assembly segments had voted in the first phase on April 19 along with the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat.

Manipur Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pradeep Kumar Jha, citing the Election Commission order, appealed to the voters to cast their votes in large numbers in these six polling stations on Tuesday.

Election officials said that various disturbances occurred in these six polling stations on Friday, prompting the EC to order fresh polling on Tuesday.

Nearly 82 per cent of around 4.85 lakh eligible voters on Friday exercised their franchise in the remaining parts of the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency.

Even in the first phase, eleven booths in Manipur had gone for repolling after incidents of firing, intimidation, destruction of EVMs and allegations of booth capturing.

New Delhi:

Two CRPF personnel were killed and two others were injured in a suspected militant attack early in the morning today in Manipur’s Bishnupur district. 

According to sources, a group of suspected Kuki militants opened gunfire from a hillside in Naranseina village towards the valley region, targeting a central security force post. The exchange escalated when a bomb detonated within the outpost, causing severe injuries to four personnel. Despite swift medical attention, two security personnel died while two are currently undergoing treatment.

Top police sources said that the attack comes six days before the first anniversary of the start of the Manipur crisis and militants hiding in hills are likely to increase attacks in the coming days.

The two who died belonged to the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) 128 Battalion, stationed at Naranseina and were identified as CRPF sub-inspector N Sarkar and head constable Arup Saini. The injured were inspector Jadav Das and constable Aftab Das. The attackers reportedly launched their assault starting from midnight until approximately 2:15 am.

The attack took place at an Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) camp where CRPF personnel were stationed after poll duty in the state. 

This camp is 2 kilometres away from the hills. About a kilometre away from the camp lies an area known as Upper Canal, where central security forces used to be posted since it was designated as a sensitive area after violence broke out in Manipur in May last year. 

According to sources, insurgents in the hills used a crude artillery weapon called a “pumpi gun” to attack the camp. 

“The militants fired indiscriminately from hilltops, targetting the camp. It started around 12.30 am and continued till about 2.15 am. The militants also hurled bombs, one of which exploded in the outpost of CRPF’s 128 battalion,” a senior police officer said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

A massive combing operation is underway in the area to track down the attackers, police said. 

Heavy gunfights broke out between Meitei and Kuki-Zo armed groups in August and September 2023 in and around Naranseina. Both sides call themselves “village defence volunteers”, a definition of the belligerents in Manipur that has become the most controversial since nothing stops these “volunteers” from killing people under the insurance provided by “in self-defence”.

The valley is primarily inhabited by the Meitei community, while the hills are inhabited by the Kuki people.

Imphal/New Delhi:

The Manipur government will take “appropriate steps” to enforce a law that will end the system of hereditary chieftainship in the hills areas of the state, BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The state is seeking to scrap the chieftainship system to end the rule of village chiefs, who are the sole leaders of settlements and own entire villages, and pave the way for setting up a democratic way of rural governance.

Referring to Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s statement in the assembly on Monday that the government will enforce an Act, which was passed in 1967 to abolish hereditary chieftainship, Imo Singh said the then President had also given assent to the bill in June 1967.

What remains to be done is to notify the Act in the official gazette, government sources told NDTV.

“A very important statement by the Chief Minister on the floor of the Manipur assembly that the state government will consult and take appropriate steps for the implementation of The Manipur Hill Areas (Acquisition of Chiefs’ Rights) Act, 1967. This Act was passed by the Manipur assembly on January 10, 1967 to abolish hereditary chieftainship,” Imo Singh, who is also the son-in-law of the Chief Minister, said in the post.

“However this Act has not been enforced till now, thus enabling the chieftains to continue with their rights and establish villages as per their hereditary practices. One can see the exponential growth of villages in these places,” Imo Singh said.

“Manipur is the only state in the North East where this Act isn’t implemented. Even a state like Mizoram had implemented a similar act for abolishing chieftainship way back in 1954 when it was a part of Assam. (The) need of the hour is to implement this Act at the earliest date, which we are hopeful now,” the BJP MLA said.

A very important statement by the Chief Minister on the floor of the Manipur Legislative Assembly that the State Government will consult and take appropriate steps for the implementation of The Manipur Hill Areas (Acquisition of Chiefs’ Rights) Act 1967. This Act was passed by…

— Rajkumar Imo Singh (@imosingh) March 4, 2024

The hereditary chieftainship system has faced severe criticism over its allegedly exploitative nature in modern times. The feudal system often leads to nepotism and autocracy – when the current chief dies, only his son can become the next chief. Power struggles among siblings have led to mushrooming of villages in Manipur.

The state bordering Myanmar – the junta nation that’s struggling for its own survival – is yet to see peace 10 months after violence broke out between the hill-majority Kuki-Zo tribes, who follow the chieftainship system, and the valley-majority Meiteis over serious disagreements on sharing land, resources, political representation, and affirmative action policies.

Since the clashes began, 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs have been asking the central government to carve out a “separate administration” from Manipur.

Why Act Not Enforced

On why Manipur never enforced the Act to scrap hereditary chieftainship for decades since the bill was passed by the assembly and cleared by the President, state government sources said the fault lies with successive Congress governments in the state.

“The Congress has ruled Manipur for the most part of the decades since Independence. Other parties came and went briefly, like blips on a screen. They never got the opportunity to treat the deep wounds inflicted by the Congress party,” a government source told NDTV on phone from Imphal, requesting anonymity.

“Notifying the Act in the official gazette would not have been a problem. But the past governments didn’t do it because some leaders probably benefitted from the system. And now in these violent times, any major decision would not be easy,” the source said.

After the British left, India passed the Zamindari Abolition Act, 1951, and ended the zamindari system, but in Manipur the Kuki-Zo tribes still practice it in the form of chieftainship. Even neighbouring Mizoram, where the tribes share ethnic ties with the Kuki and Chin people, had scrapped chieftainship.

Over 180 have died in the ethnic violence and thousands have been internally displaced.

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