Centre likely to act tough on anti-dam stirs Oct 9 – Sustained agitations by anti-dam protesters in Assam leading to a complete halt in project works of all major hydro-power projects, have sent the alarm bells ringing, with the Centre contemplating intervention to break the logjam. Even as China is going ahead at a breakneck speed in construction of hydro-power projects upstream of the Brahmaputra river in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), New Delhi has been caught in a bind, because of a total halt in construction of power projects in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. Highly placed sources said that while India has noted the developments on the other side of the Indian border, and has been taking up the issue of construction of what China calls Run-of the-River (RoR) projects, the agitations by the anti-dam protesters have become a source of major concern for New Delhi. The 2000 MW Subansiri Hydro-electric Power Project is in a limbo since 2011, thanks to the agitation by some organisations, which the Centre suspects have been infiltrated by Maoists. The other proposed hydro power projects also suffer the same fate. The sources hinted that a massive intervention by the Centre may be in the offing. According to reports, China is constructing a 38,000 MW dam at Motuo across Arunachal Pradesh, on the bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo. “Yes, we are taking these agitations very seriously and working very hard on that,” said sources. The Centre has constituted a Committee of Secretaries headed by the Union Cabinet Secretary to monitor the situation. Recently, the Centre instructed the Arunachal Pradesh to ensure that hydro projects are not stopped midway “due to actions of a few interested groups.” What could come as bad news for the Tarun Gogoi Government is that the Centre might press it harder to get tough on the anti-dam agitators during the coming months. India’s case is to establish right of use by utilising the water for generating power. Among the major projects that India needs to start is setting up of the Upper Siang Project. Public Sector undertaking NTPC Ltd finalised the pre-feasibility report for a proposed 9,750 MW Siang Upper hydroelectric project.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Oct 2013 14:11:32 +0000
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