Subansiri hydroelectric project: NGT dismisses plea seeking reconstitution of committee

The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday dismissed a plea seeking reconstitution of a committee set up by the Environment Ministry to study the 2,000-MW Lower Subansiri hydroelectric project on the border of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said it has not found any material on record justifying the plea of "bias".

"The EAC has conducted the appraisal. The competent Authority has agreed with the same. Mere association of organisations with the project in professional capacity is not enough to hold that any expert who worked in such association will have an institutional bias," said the bench also comprising Justices S P Wangdi and K Ramakrishnan.

The green panel said that it is not the case of the applicant that any of the experts have any "pecuniary interest or personal interest".