Events & Issues
New Delhi, 23 November 2010
Mega Dam Project
SETS ASSAM AFLAME
By Mithun Dey
The ‘mega dam’ 2000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Power Project
set up in 2003 in Arunachal Pradesh is now one of the central political
issues in Assam.
The Opposition parties led by the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the BJP in the State
have made clear that they would use its ‘anti-dam’ stand as an election issue
during the Assembly polls early next year.
Pertinently, even as the mega dam projects are being planned
in Assam
along-with Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, the conservationists have volubly expressed
that the dams must be tossed out as they would cause an obnoxious ecological
collision in the areas and create problems for the people living in the
regions.
Said the BJP’s Assam President Ranjit Dutta, “Definitely
the big dam issue would be on top of our agenda and we will see to it that
the plans are shelved at any cost.” The AGP too is making big noises on
the mega dam issue. Added AGP’s former Chief Minister Profulla Mahanta, “We
will not allow the Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Power Project in Arunachal
Pradesh to come up at any cost.
An expert committee has been formed by the Congress’s Tarun
Gogoi Assam Government. Stated a member of the committee Jatin Kalita, “From a
geological point of view, we have recommended diminution of the dam height to avert
flooding, besides other technical recommendations’.
However, now the controversy over the mega dam has taken a
political turn. Apparent from the manner the Opposition and the ruling Party
are locked in a bitter slanging match. The Chief Minister is of the view that there
was no point in opposing the project for the sake of opposition. “If
the project benefits Assam
then why should we oppose it?’ Gogoi said.
Significantly, there are currently three major projects, Ranganadi project,
Subansari project and Taloh power project being executed in Arunachal. Notwithstanding the anti-dam tirade by
farmers and fishermen who might lose their source of livelihood, the State
Government is going ahead with the construction of the dams in the
Himalayan region.
On the flip side, with an energy discrepancy of about 12 per
cent, India
is under pressure to power its economic growth. But the people of North East think otherwise.
In fact, a composite network of tribal groups and over a dozen long-running
mutinies fuelled by anger over what they see as New Delhi’s pillage of local resources have
raised the ante for meaningful autonomy.
According to activists, the edifice of the dams would not
only diminish water flows but as a result, it would lead to a decrease of fishing
stocks in the rivers and less water for farmers to rinse out their crops.
As it stands, in Assam during monsoon, the water
levels in the dam reservoirs often lead to mass floods and ruin almost
everything, crops, homes, animals’ et al while people suffer from dysentery,
diarrhea year after year. Moreover, experts note that the region is also
located in an active seismic zone, which could create serious problems if many
mega-dams are constructed.
But the State Government has no plan to discontinue the
ongoing work on the project even as experts list out the adverse impacts of the
project. “We are not against development and power generation. But this should
not be done at the cost of the lives of the common people. The Government can
take recourse to the micro-hydel projects, instead of the mega dams, for power generation,”
emphasized Sammujal Bhattacharya.
“The Central
Government must stop the mega dam projects being constructed in the hills of
Arunachal Pradesh till the final viability report is filed. The Government
should think about the adverse collision of the dam projects. After erecting
these mega dam projects in the hills, the future of the lower parts residing people
will be jeopardized”, he warned.
In July this year, well known activist and head of the
Narmada Bachao Andolan Medha Patkar launched a scorching attack on the Assam Government
for moving ahead with the mega dams project over the Brahmaputra River
and presaged for mass mutiny if the projects were not stopped immediately.
“The people of Assam and the North-east
would rebellion if such dams are permitted to proceed. Building of dams would slay
both the river Brahmaputra and the people of
the North-East and we shall never assent to this sort of projects to continue,”
asserted Patkar at an anti-dam rally in the State.
The BJP retaliated against Congress assertions that the erstwhile
NDA Government under Prime Minister Vajpayee had supported the construction of
mega dams in the region. Countered former BJP President Rajnath Singh, “The BJP
had only said yes to build a multi-purpose dam but never started construction of
mega dams.” Thus, making plain its stand over construction of mega dams in the
region.
Importantly, the people of Assam have the right to live
which would clearly be in jeopardy if mega dams are constructed in the region.
At the same time the Government has a duty to safeguard public interests and
its people from ruin. The powers-that-be should also engage more experts to
study all the pros and cons of downstream affects of the dam. ----- INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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