On April 26 the All Assam Students Union (AASU) served an ultimatum on the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) to initiate immediate time bound steps towards the downstream impact assessment study for the 2000 MW Lower Subansiri hydroelectric project. A tripartite meeting between AASU, Assam Government and NHPC in December 2006 had apparently also discussed the issue of studying the cumulative impacts of dams in Arunachal Pradesh.

Irrespective of what NHPC does, it is time the Assam Government woke up to the urgency of the issue in order to protect the interests of its people and environment. In the last couple of years, the Assam Government has setup atleast two committees to look into overall water management issues, including downstream impacts of dams. But the status of both these initiatives is not in the public domain as yet. Are there any concrete recommendations from these committees and have concrete actions been taken by the Assam Government on this basis? Or has this been reduced to a paper exercise?

If the State government does not take immediate action, it will be too late to intervene on the issue as rapid developments are taking place for large dam construction in Arunachal Pradesh.

On April 22 an advertisement appeared in the Arunachal Pradesh newspapers announcing two environmental public hearings for the 3000 MW Dibang multipurpose project in Roing and Arzoo on May 23 and May 25 respectively. As per procedures, soon after the public hearing project authorities will submit the documents to the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) for grant of environmental clearance. The Dibang project is proposed as a hydropower cum flood moderation scheme and involves the construction of a 288 m high dam. The mega size of this dam can be gauged from the fact that the Lower Subansiri project which is also a mega project involves a dam which is 116 m high, while Dibang will be 288 m high. The Dibang multipurpose project is proposed to be developed as a Joint Venture between NHPC and the Government of Arunachal Pradesh. Is Dispur aware of the fact that this project will be considered for environmental clearance very soon? Does it have a plan to study the downstream impacts of this dam? Why is a public hearing not being held in Assam? If the Assam government does not act fast, its response will remain a cosmetic exercise as the excuse will be given that clearances have already been granted!

Two other recent developments further highlight the need for urgency in action from Dispur.

The environmental clearance granted to the 1000 MW Middle Siang (Siyom) project was challenged before the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) – a special environmental court – by Ravindranath of Akajan, Dhemaji district. The grounds were extremely valid – poor downstream impact studies. It is important to note that NHPC argued in court that people staying downstream in Assam cannot be aggrieved by an upstream project in Arunachal! But the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project contradicts this stand. In the DPR, NHPC has said that part of the project cost related to 'flood cushion' should be taken up by Govt. of Assam as it will be a beneficiary State. According to them this will also help reduce cost of electricity. Therefore, they do admit in the DPR that Assam is impacted by the project.

But at the same time they are arguing in court that downstream people of Assam, in the flood plain of the Brahmaputra, cannot legally challenge environmental clearances granted to dams in Arunachal Pradesh! This clearly shows their callous attitude towards downstream social and environmental issues. More shockingly, the NEAA has agreed with the NHPC stand and rejected the application by the petitioner based in Assam. This is a very serious matter indeed. This order of the NEAA has been challenged before the Delhi High Court by the petitioner and the case is being currently heard in the court of the Chief Justice, Dr. M.K. Sharma.

In another recent development, the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) recently finalised Terms of Reference (TOR) for conducting the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports for the following five proposed hydroelectric projects in Arunachal Pradesh - 750 MW Tawang I, 750 MW Tawang II, 700 MW Tato II, 4000 MW Etalin and 500 MW Atunli. The EIA report is a very important document, since this is the only place where both the social and environmental impacts of a project are studied. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that this is done thoroughly. But the TORs for all the five projects mentioned specifically ask studies to be restricted to a 10 km. radius. Therefore, only 10 km. downstream of the dam will be studied! This is a very serious issue, as the impacts on downstream areas in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam will not be required to be studied by the project authorities.

It is of utmost importance that Dispur responds urgently to the above matters regarding the downstream impacts of the dams.

Inspite of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh having signed a series of agreements with power companies recently and having a lot of financial stakes in the projects, it too has admitted to the serious negative environmental and social impacts of large hydroelectric projects in no less a forum than the Supreme Court of India. In an application filed in the Supreme Court in 2005 the Government of Arunachal Pradesh admitted:

"… the applicant State has the potential to generate atleast 50,000 MW of hydro-electricity. The applicant State will be entitled to 12 percent free power from these power projects. However, the adverse effect of the mega power projects on the environment cannot be overlooked. Storage projects like the Lower Subansiri Power Project may not be ideally suited for the State of Arunachal Pradesh due to the possibility of massive earthquakes, fragile geological conditions, needs to preserve rich flora and fauna in the State, sentiments of the tribal people who may have to be displaced/relocated;…"

There appears to be a contradiction between the Government of Arunachal Pradesh signing so many MoUs on the one hand and yet admitting to the serious impacts of these projects on the other. But there is no contradiction about the fact that all these projects will have considerable downstream impacts and Dispur needs to ensure that serious and thorough downstream impact studies are conducted urgently. Assam government should wake up before it is too late!