Construction Of Mega Dams On The Brahmaputra

By Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman

The series of mega dams being built by India on the various tributaries of the Brahmaputra in the state of Arunachal Pradesh has generated immense political debate and activism in Northeast India, and led to inter-state tensions between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The concerns of downstream Assam arises from  the likely effects these dams will have in their territory, which includes siltation, floods, impact on infrastructure and development, environmental disasters like flash floods and dam breaks induced by earthquakes, which have occurred in the past, resulting in huge damages.

Political activism has increased over this issue of mega dams in Arunachal Pradesh, which has reflected in political posturing by the state governments of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Dorjee Khandu, has been lobbying in New Delhi for taking up dam projects in his state as planned, and has met several senior ministers and political leaders in New Delhi on this issue. He is strongly opposing the moratorium proposed on these mega dam projects until proper environmental risk impact and other technical aspects are assessed by expert panels, which has been the sustained demand of Assam in recent times.

The state government of Assam has been cautious due to the growing domestic fears in the state over the impact of mega dams in upstream Arunachal Pradesh, which is a regular feature in protests by civil society organizations and in the Assamese Media. Several prominent civil society and political organizations in Assam are against the dams in Arunachal Pradesh; and with the Assam state assembly elections due in early 2011, the political heat is bound to increase. The Chief Minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi has also been lobbying in Delhi to impose a moratorium on mega dams. He has had meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and has demanded the setting up of a Central level Group of Ministers (GoM) to look into the matter. He has also demanded the constitution of expert committees to examine all aspects of the mega dams.

The All Assam Students Union (AASU) has come to the forefront of the anti-dam agitation in Assam, organizing mass rallies and awareness programmes on this issue. The Kisan Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), another mass based farmer organization, led by Akhil Gogoi, has been holding huge demonstrations all over the state against mega dams. Regional political parties like the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) have seized this opportunity to attack the Congress led state government, and this is going to be one of the main election issues in Assam. Civil society organizations in Arunachal Pradesh are also working in tandem with their contemporaries in Assam against these mega dams which have the potential to create enormous ecological damage; and as pointed out by many local civil society organizations in Arunachal Pradesh, would adversely affect the tribal way of life in the state by leading to massive displacement and unsustainable development.

The respective state governments have failed however to reach any  consensus or understanding on the issue of mega dams, and vested commercial interests like contractors and companies involved in the mega dams projects are behind the strong pro-dam lobby in Arunachal Pradesh. Interestingly, both Arunachal Pradesh and Assam have Congress led governments, hence they have chosen to leave it to the central government and political leadership to intervene and mediate this issue. The lack of political will and leadership to provide solutions and build a consensus in Northeast India has affected many other aspects of development and governance in the region. Inter-state understanding and cooperation in Northeast India has been abysmally low, despite the presence of a regional coordination body like the North East Council, which lacks any consensus building capacity.

An Inter-Ministerial meeting on mega dams in Northeast India has been called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but has been postponed many times for various reasons. It remains to be seen how New Delhi will mediate between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, as it will have to walk a political tightrope due to the upcoming Assam elections. New Delhi has allowed Arunachal Pradesh to sanction a large number of mega dam projects with the objective of retaining its first-use rights over the waters of the Brahmaputra river system against the dams and river diversion plans of China. The development of Arunachal Pradesh is a priority for the Central government, given its geo-strategic significance vis-à-vis China. New Delhi needs to strike a balance between its strategic calculations and addressing the domestic fears and concerns in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, which have the potential to create internal unrest.

Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman, Research Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, may be reached at mirzalibra10@gmail.com