Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Manipur on Saturday to inaugurate work on a national sports academy and a technology institute but he will skip the foundation-stone laying of a dam project following protests by an anti-dam lobby.
Manmohan Singh was to visit Manipur earlier this week but re-scheduled the programme in the wake of protests against the Tipaimukh dam on the Manipur-Mizoram border.
Manmohan Singh's visit will be a record of sorts as no prime minister has visited Manipur twice during a single tenure. He visited Manipur and Assam in November 2004.
He will inaugurate the Manipur Institute of Technology and kickstart work on a national sports academy at Khuman Lampak stadium.
The Tipaimukh dam on the Barak river is a joint venture of the Manipur, Assam and Mizoram governments. However, it is believed that Cachar in south Assam will benefit the most from the project.
The anti-dam lobby's main concern is that a large tract of farmland and a vast stretch of forest in Tamenglong on the border with Mizoram will be submerged if the dam comes up.
Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has been keen that the prime minister should launch the project before the assembly elections slated for February next year.
{{/usCountry}}Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has been keen that the prime minister should launch the project before the assembly elections slated for February next year.
{{/usCountry}}During his last visit to Manipur, the prime minister announced the much-awaited decision of the government to upgrade Manipur University to a central university, handed over the Kangla Fort in Imphal to the Manipur government and flagged off the South Asia-Southeast Asia car rally.
He had also laid the foundation of the Rs 7.27 billion-Jiribam-Imphal (Tupul) rail line at Jiribam in Imphal East district. The 97.90 km rail link is the first to connect Manipur with the rest of India.