Questions on Her

With a water spread of 289 square kilometres, Loktak lake is rich in biological diversity and plays an important role in the ecological and economic security of the region. It was accorded the status of a Ramsar site of international importance in 1990, which shows the significant ecological services of the wetland to humanity and the natural environment. However, the Loktat hydel project commissioned in the early 1980s disturbed the entire lake ecosystem, resulting in extensive loss to biodiversity and displacing massive human population and the wildlife. In the past five decades, the natural ecosystem has degraded considerably. The Loktak Development Authority, which came up in 1987 for taking steps to conserve and protect the lake ecosystem, has not made much headway simply for the reasons that it has not involved the community living in and around in its project designs and plans.