Forest diversion proposals for Tipaimukh project denied: Uma

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has denied forest diversion proposals in Mizoram and Manipur for implementation of Tipaimukh Hydro Electric Project (THEP), the Lok Sabha was informed today.
"THEP was planned on the Barak river for an installed capacity of 1,500 MW in Manipur. However, the planning of THEP is under revision after MOEF denied the forest diversion proposals in Mizoram and Manipur for the project," Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati said, replying to a question in Lok Sabha.
She said that Mawphu HEP Stage-II in East Khasi Hills and Myntdu HEP Stage-II in West Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya "have been investigated for a planned installed capacity of 75 MW and 280 MW, respectively".

In 2012, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh in her letter to the External Affairs Minister had raised the issue of construction of two dams for hydro power projects in Meghalaya namely Mawphu and Myntdu across the rivers Umiew and Myntdu, respectively. The issue of Tipaimukh Hydel Power Project has also been raised by the Bangladeshi side, she added.
The Foreign Minister of Bangladesh in her letter stated that since both Umiew and Myntdu are common rivers between Bangladesh and India, a Joint Study Group under the Joint River Commission (JRC) may be formed for doing a thorough assessment of the impact of the projects on Bangladesh.

In 2013, she said that our Mission at Dhaka had formally conveyed to Bangladesh that the issue of dams in Meghalaya was discussed in the Foreign Office Consultations and Joint Consultative Commission Meetings held in Dhaka in February 2013, wherein, it was conveyed that these projects were envisaged to be Run-of-River type and would not affect the flow of the rivers.
Additional information on these two dams was also provided to the Bangladesh side. For Tipaimukh project, a sub-group under JRC had been formed and since then two meetings of the sub-group have taken place, she added.