& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Maranaws Fighting NPC Hydro Project

Ch Jei writes from Marawi City, Philippines
**Maranaws are against the destruction of Lake Lanao, their major source of livelihood and cultured identity
Azan, the Muslim call to prayers, stirs up new fervour among the 92,000 Maranaws in this southern Philippines city.
"Allah Akbar", or "God is Great", might become a warcry of the Maranaws who are convinced it is their religious duty to wage an Islamic holy war against the government's National Power Corporation (Napocor) for the destruction of Lake Lanao.
Almost 11 years ago, the Napocor conceptualised a Lake Lanao-Agus River Development Project comprising of seven hydroelectric plants (HEP) with a total generating capacity of 944 megawatts.
To date, five of the hydroelectric plants are already in operation and are now the major source of energy for the entire Mindanao Island. All the hydroelectric plants are located along the 36.5-kifometre stretch of Agus River which provides the only water outlet of Lake Lanao to Iligan Bay, north of Mindanao.
Lake Lanao is the meeting place of 23 rivers and streams occupying an area of 360 sq. km. It has been the traditional landmark of Identity fot the Maranaws, a Muslim ethnolln-guistic group, whose name literally means the "lake people."
Last October, concern over the preservation of Lake Lanao was revived when members of a radio club on frequency 359 decided to organise themselves. In Marawi City, two-way radios are substitutes for telephones, as a means of Communications within the city and its vicinity.
The "Save Lake Lanao Movement" or SALAM, an abbreviation which literally means "Peace" In the Arabic language, was established. The broad coalition comprised of the 28 Royal houses of Lanao, the Moro National Liberation Front, local government officials and non-governmental organisations.
Last December 1990, this predominantly Muslim city saw the biggest mass mobilisation in the region—about 50,000 people gathered to demonstrate their disapproval of the Napocor's Agus River hydroelectric projects.
"We are demanding the dismantling of the Regulatory Dam built by the Napocor to regulate the outflow of the water from the lake," said Adelaida Ditucalan, an officer of SALAM. She added that "this was the main culprit in lowering the water level of the lake.”
Since the start of the hydroelectric projects, the water level has been reported to have receded by 50 metres. This has hindered Muslims from performing their daily prayers and chores. Muslims who traditionally wash before their prayers have now abandoned many of the 100 or so mosques which used to be conveniently located on the shoreline of Lake Lanao.
Environmentalists have also reported the depletion of aquatic resources, hampered usage of water for agriculture, and the possible closure of Marawt City's lake port due to lowered water level. According to a report of the Kinaiyahan Foundation Inc. (KFl), an environmental group, the change in depth of the lake is also due to other factors like the siltation problems caused by intensifying dry spells over the past few years.
It was reported that by April 1990, an equivalent of only 30-35 centimetres of water depth was flowing into the lake. About 90 centimetres of water depth was needed to run the existing five hydroelectric plants in one month. Over the years the production cost of the hydroelectric project increased 2.5 times, from 800 million pesos (US$28.5 million) to 1.9 billion pesos (US$67.8 million).
Despite such factors, the Napocor is adamant in the launching of the latest of the Agus River projects, the Agus 1. The controversial project was the major catalyst which sparked off the December protests.
The Agus 1 project has a ca pacity of generating only 80 megawatts. It has two underground tunnels 1.3 km long. Residents doubt the safety of the tunnel as It Is alleged that substandard construction materials were used to build the tunnels.
There is strong seepage in the ground, and since the tunnels were constructed with weak materials and no grouting (filling in the vacuum in the earth around the tunnel ) was done, they will collapse when there is water pressure," reveals the former project supervisor of the Agus 1 underground tunneling project.
Despite strong assurances from Napocor officials of the tunnels' safety, the former project supervisor insists that independent technical experts should investigate the project because he believes that some phases of the project were not done according to design.
The Napocor argued that with Mindanao's projected power consumption Increase of 14 per cent for 1991 and the disrupted opening of the Agus 1 project, there would be longer periods when electricity is cut-off.
But the Maranaws are convinced that increased electricity supply can never Justify the destruction of Lake Lanao. their source of livelihood and cultural identify.
Protest actions against the Agus River projects were not sustained over the years but this time the Maranaws see med to be ready more than ever to fight for their lake.
"The people have never been united except for now", said Ms. Ditucalan. "We know our legal basis for struggling against the Napocor and we prefer non-violence and peaceful means to-do it".
But the Maranaws. who view the struggle to save Lake Lanao as a holy war, seem to be prepared to do so either through peaceful means or even an elderly Maranaw said, "even otherwise. If ft Is required for us Io die*.
"We are prepared to fight." —Depthnetvs Asia.