Large dams in NE opposed

Major Events Vol. 3 Issue No. 29

June 16-30, 2007

Large dams in NE opposed

Speakers taking part in a deliberation on the impact of the large river dams on the people of the NE region here today were found to be skeptical over the benefits of such dams for the peoples of the region. They also laid stress on the need to initiate steps for finding out alternative sources to meet the power demand in this part of the country.

The development approach of the country has failed to take into consideration the issues connected with the biological diversity and the societies of the region. The policy makers of the country are influenced by the desires of the North Indian states. This needs to be changed, they said.

North-East Policy Group (NEPG) organized the deliberation in association with Panos South Asia at the Satyanath Bora Hall here this evening.

Taking part in the deliberation, Neeraj Vagholikar of the environment action group Kalpavriksh made a power point presentation. He said that the agricultural practices in Arunachal Pradesh are quite different from the other parts of the country. Plots of land are so divided among the communities here that virtually there would be no land to relocate the persons being displaced b y the hydel projects.

The Lower Subansiri Hydel Project undertaken by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), has already affected the breeding ground of the Golden Masheer, an endangered fish species.

He alleged that the clearance to the project was secured from the Indian Board of Wildlife by the Union Minister of Environment and Forests threatening the Board members that if they failed to clear the project, he would reconstitute the Board.

The NHPC authorities had defied a Supreme Court order that directed not to dump the muck and debris resulting from the excavation activities at the sites of the dam projects on the river and also in the forest areas, Vagholikar alleged with a video footage to support his allegation.

Vagholikar, himself an engineer, said that the proposals for the 13 large dams in Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh were also prepared in a haste without taking into consideration the overall impact of these dams on the peoples living on the banks of these rivers.

The Idu Misimi community, which has a population of only few thousands, will face a serious threat with the execution of the Dibang Valley projects.

He laid stress on an informed debate on the dam projects proposed in the region and called upon the Assam Government to assess the downstream impacts of the dams proposed in Arunachal Pradesh.

Taking part in the deliberation, former Secretary of the Assam Water Resources Department A K Mitra, who is the present Chairman of the Assam State Centre of the Institution of Engineers, India said that the seismic vulnerability of the region should be taken into consideration while going for the large dams. This is a vital area that needs consideration, he said.

Prof Dulal Chandra Goswami said that the geological and biological factors of the region were quite different from the other areas of the country. Biological diversity apart, the cultural diversity of the region’s peoples is also an important aspect that demands attention from the policy makers of the country, he said.

Big intervention in the Himalayan areas is not only ecologically unacceptable, they are not acceptable socially too for the peoples of this region, he said.

The region can meet its power needs with some small dams. But the big dams are proposed in this region for meeting the power demand of the other regions of the country. Power from the region can be put on the grid, but the loss to environment and societies here cannot be compensated through any grid, he said with sarcasm.

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