Manipur’s Home Department has constituted a three-member committee to make a detailed inquiry into the oil leakage from a Heavy Fuel Power Station in Leimakhong in Imphal West district. The committee include the State’s ADGP (Intelligence), the Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Power and the Additional Secretary (Home). It has been directed to submit the its report within 15 days.

The committee will be investigating into the cause and circumstances that led to the leakage and suggest immediate and long term measures to prevent future incidents.

On the evening of 10th January 2024, videos of oil flowing down a stream were highly circulated on social media with many accusing the Kukis of attempting to poison the water flowing through Meitei villages.

Later, the Secretary to the Manipur Chief Minister issued an Urgent notification stating that leakage of “heavy fuel” from the Leimakhong Power Station had led to spillover of discharge in streams. The order urged for immediate action to prevent environmental calamity. The stream meets the Imphal River downstream by flowing through Khurkhul-Loitang-Kameng-Iroisemba-Nambul, N Geoffrey had informed.

The CM’s Secretariat informed on 11th January 2023 that the main course of the stream had been blocked at Kantosabai and diverted to a field to contain the spread of the fuel into the public water supply. The Press release also stated that preliminary reports of the Department of Public Health Engineering indicated that the leakage has not caused any damage to the potable water supply system.

The CM’s Secretariat further informed that an FIR had been registered and the area is completely sealed off for investigation by the committee.