22 Assam organisations to protest against NHPC project from Sep 20

IANS

Guwahati, 13 Sep 2021: More than 22 organisations in Assam have threatened to launch a joint movement against the mega 2,000 MW capacity hydropower project being set up by the state-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) along the Arunachal Pradesh-Assam border from September 20.

 

Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) leader, Palash Changmai on Monday said more than 22 organisations have decided to launch a series of protests, including blockade of the project site, against the NHPC.

 

The AJYCP, an anti-Bharatiya Janata Party organisation, on Saturday organised a public meeting where various experts, including geologists and hydrologists, had highlighted a threat to downstream areas of the Subansiri river. The AJYCP leader said work on the project was resumed without consulting 965 villages across four districts in the downstream of the hydroelectric project.

 

These districts in eastern Assam adjoining Arunachal Pradesh include Biswanath, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Majuli. The 22 organisations, which are opposing the mega power plant, include the influential All Assam Students’ Union and All Assam Adivasi Students’ Association whose leaders had attended the Saturday meeting.

 

Commissioning of the 2,000 MW (8x250 MW) Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric project at Gerukamukh was started in 2006 but work had been stopped in 2011 following agitations fearing ecological damage and loss of livelihood.

 

The construction of the Rs 20,000 crore power project had resumed more than a year ago during the Covid-19 induced lockdown. Because of the delay in completion, the NHPC has suffered huge losses.