Greener Journal of Physical Sciences

Greener Journal of  Physical Sciences Vol. 2 (4), pp. 107-116, October, 2012.

ISSN: 2276-7851 © 2011 Greener Journals

Research Paper

Manuscript Number: 08011230

 

Dying Wetlands: A Threat to Livelihoods of Loktak Lake Dwellers

 

Abha Lakshmi Singh* and Khundrakpam Moirangleima**

 

* Department of Geography Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh Uttar Pradesh, India-202002, E-mail: abhalakshmisingh @yahoo. com, Phone: +910571: 2400789

** Department of Geography Banasthali University, Banasthali, Rajasthan – 304022

 

*Corresponding Author’s E-mail: moirangleima @ gmail.com

Abstract:

Loktak lake is regarded as the ‘lifeline of the people of Manipur’ and soon, will be on the verge of extinction. In this paper, an attempt has been made to assess the causes for this stress and its resultant impacts on the land and environment and on the livelihood of the lake dwellers. The lake dwellers include people living on the lakeshore, islands and on phumdis. The study is mainly based on the primary sources of data which were collected through questionnaire interviews. The total sample size consisted of 500 households sampled from the 10 selected villages located around the Loktak Lake. The result showed that the lake is under severe stress mainly due to human interventions like the construction of Ithai Barrage Dam, weed infestation, pollution, encroachment, overexploitation of resources and siltation thereby causing flooding of the agricultural fields and villages, decrease in fisheries production and loss of biodiversity. The resultant impacts on the livelihoods of the lake dwellers showed change in their occupational structure and income, increase in unemployment and health problems.
 
Key words: Wetlands, eutrophication, Manipur, agriculture, flooding, Loktak and Phumdi.

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