Centre to set up expert committee on Subansiri hydro project

An eight-member committee will be set up by the Centre to review all aspects of the 2,000 MW Subansiri hydro project, where construction work stopped about three years ago due to protests.
The decision to form the committee, where four members each will be from Assam and outside the state, was taken during the meeting in the National Capital today. It was called by the Union Power Ministry and held experts and agitating groups with a view to ending the impasse.
"All those present in the meeting decided to form an 8-member committee to review the entire project. The committee will submit its report to the Ministry within next three months," an official source told PTI.

The terms of reference for the committee has not been finalised yet and it will take few more days, he added.
All the members will be experts and their selection will be done in consultation with the agitating groups like Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP).
This will be the third expert committee set up to review different aspects of the project following the agitation against the dam.

The source said KMSS objected to the proposal of simultaneously resuming construction work of the dam and conducting the study by the expert committee.

The two-day meeting on December 10-11 over the delayed power project by NHPC was chaired by Power Minister Piyush Goyal and co-chaired by Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. All together, 26 groups were invited for talks.
Construction work of the ambitious project at Gerukamukh along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border on Subansiri river has been stalled since December 2011 after protests by locals and many groups fearing safety and downstream impact.
Although many organisations are opposing it, the protests were primarily led by the KMSS. The AASU has also organised a number of protests and rallies.
The Centre had allocated a total Rs 11,000 crore as on December 2010 for construction of the dam.

Initially, the cost of the project was estimated to be around Rs 6,285 crore and was scheduled to be commissioned in December 2012.
The Subansiri Lower Hydro Electric Project is the biggest hydro-electric project undertaken in India so far and is a run-of-the-river scheme.