The graphic novelist George Mathen, who writes under the pen name of Appupen, deals extensively with the issues of sustainability in his Halahala series. In this piece, he adapted an interview with Dominic Huimi Kashung from the Citizen’s Concern for Dams and Development, based out of Manipur. The Citizen’s Concern for Dams and Development was awarded at the “Bhagirath Prayaas Samman” at India Rivers Week in November 2016. The Samman, or honour, was instituted in 2014 for those who have done sustained work or contributed to the work of sustaining rivers. India’s northeastern states have a history of large dams, and the struggle of local indigenous people being affected by large-scale construction, while the benefits of electricity flow to urban centres far way.

This article first appeared on The Third Pole.