Assam govt to talk to anti-dam groups from today

The Assam government has finally relented and has agreed to invite the groups and organisations, which are opposed to the construction of NHPC Ltd’s 2,000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Project, for talks. The first set of talks will be held on January 5 at Dispur.

The decision to invite the anti-dam groups and organisations for talks was taken yesterday at a meeting of the group of ministers (GoM), constituted by the state government to look into the issue of construction of mega dams in the upper reaches of river Brahmaputra. Assam’s power minister Pradyut Bordoloi heads the GoM.

“The GoM has agreed to start dialogue with all the groups and organisations from January 5 with an open mind,” stated a government press statement.

For almost a month, the anti-dam organisations had been imposing a road-blockade in eastern Assam’s North Lakhimpur district for vehicles carrying construction material and equipments for the Subansiri project. The organisations demand scrapping of the project for the perceived threat to downstream areas and surrounding ecology. The mood among common people, particularly in Upper and eastern Assam districts, too is against the construction of mega-dams in upper reaches of Brahmaputra.

The project site is situated along Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border at Gerukamukh, some 35 km from North Lakhimpur town.

The latest eruption of protests had been since first week of December 2011 after the district administration helped NHPC Ltd forcibly carry an over dimensional consignment (ODC) to the project site.

Though the anti-dam groups and organisations have welcomed the state government’s invitation for dialogue, they have refused to lift the road blockade for NHPC vehicles.

A state level expert committee had in 2010 expressed concerns and reservations over mega dams being developed in upper reaches of river Brahmaputra and particularly against Lower Subansiri Project. The report had come as a shot in the arm for the anti-dam groups and organisations in the state.