Arunachal Dam Protests: Jairam Plans Public Hearing on Sept 10

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Itanagar, Sep 7 : Protests against setting up a series of mega dams on the Siang, Subansiri and several other tributaries of the Brahmaputra in Arunachal Pradesh have become louder by the day even as Union Minister for Forest and Environment Jairam Ramesh fixed September 10 as the date for a public hearing here on the issue.

The minister will also visit Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh the next day to take stock of the situation arising out of the protests.

The protests have been particularly more surrounding the Subansiri Lower hydel project, a 2,000 MW project that is being implemented by the public sector National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), with the Assam government also joining to row.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had in July asked the Centre to intervene and ensure that such dam projects did not lead to denial of the riparian rights of the people of Assam.

Gogoi had particularly referred to the ongoing Subansiri Lower hydro-electric project, and said flood moderation and flood cushioning should be considered critical components of the project.

“The various multipurpose projects proposed in the Master Plan prepared by Brahmaputra Board, like Tipaimukh, Pagladiya, Kameng and Siang etc should be taken up as storage projects so that the riparian rights of the state of Assam is not denied and flood moderation is taken due care,” Gogoi said.

While an umbrella body of the All Assam Students’ Union and 25 other student and youth bodies have launched a vigorous campaign against the Subansiri Lower and other projects, opposition parties of the state have also taken up the issue.

The Asom Gana Parishad last week staged a massive dharna at the NHPC project site at Gerukamukh and demanded immediate stalling of the project.

Meanwhile, an expert committee constituted by the NHPC and the Assam government has identified 968 villages in the lower reaches of the Subansiri and categorised them into three groups in the basis of their vulnerability.

The expert panel had a couple of months back recommended against construction of mega hydel dams in the region including the Subansiri Lower project, given the high seismicity of the eastern Himalayas.