Experts panel to look into Lower Subansiri project

With anti-dam protests rending the air in Assam, the Centre has decided to constitute an expert committee comprising internationally acclaimed seismologists and hydro-electric project experts to go into the wide range of issues centering the Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Project. The decision was conveyed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi at a recent meeting.

The committee will examine the technical parameters of the Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Project for safety and stability in view of the concerns and apprehensions recently raised by a state-level expert committee. The project is being developed by NHPC Ltd. and 50 per cent of the project work has been completed.

After reservations expressed in the state-level expert committee report, which submitted its report in June this year and comprised members from IIT Guwahati and Gauhati University, the state saw a wave of protests against the 2,000MW Lower Subansiri Project. The issue is fast snowballing into a major election issue in the upcoming Assembly election next year, thus compelling the ruling Congress Party to tread the path cautiously.

The project has been under severe attack due to the perception that it would cause serious damage to the ecology and downstream areas.

Gogoi requested the Prime Minister to set up a steering group to advise NHPC to initiate measures for flood and erosion control in the downstream areas.

The Rs 7,000-crore Lower Subansiri Project is situated in Gerukamukh in Assam-Arunachal border and is one of the mega projects being developed in the country. Once completed, it is expected to end power shortage for the entire North-Eastern Region, besides supplying power to other power-starved regions of India.

The chief minister raised the issue of China building a dam in the mid-stretches of the Brahmaputra river, or the Yarlung Tsangpo, as it is known in Tibet. Gogoi urged the Prime Minister to take up the matter with the Chinese government.

Gogoi said that any diversion of water from the river could cause water scarcity in Assam. He requested the Prime Minster for a possible treaty on water sharing with China to protect the interests of India in general and Assam, in particular.

“This (water sharing treaty) will go a long way in ensuring stability of water flow of Brahmaputra in future,” Gogoi said.