Guwahati, June 8: The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd, which is executing the 2000MW Lower Subansiri project, is at its wits’ end on how to get work started at the site.
The stalling of work at Gerukamukh in Dhemaji district of Assam, bordering Arunachal Pradesh, since December last year because of opposition by various groups has got the NHPC’s loss meter ticking rapidly and has also delayed commissioning of the project, which is the biggest undertaken in India so far.
On an average, NHPC is losing Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore daily since December. The project’s cost has escalated from Rs 6,285.33 crore to Rs 10,799.63 crore. The corporation has already spent Rs 5,383.24 crore and more than 50 per cent of the work has been completed. Asked about the exact loss sustained by the corporation since December, a senior official said, “We have still not calculated the loss. At the moment, our main job is to start work.”
As there is no work, labourers have also left the site. “We have never faced such problem on any of our other projects,” the corporation’s general manager, Om Prakash, said.
“Even if the situation improves, we will lose almost a year as there will be no work during monsoon. At best, we can start work by November-December,” Rakesh, executive director of the project, told reporters here today after a meeting of the NHPC steering committee. He said the project’s commissioning date had been revised to December 2015.
NHPC officials said the corporation has the support of the Centre and that of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. It has also adequately publicised the benefits of the project to remove “misgivings”. Yet work cannot be started as certain elements are creating problems, Rakesh said without naming any group.
Om Prakash summed up the mood when he asked, “What to do? Please suggest.”
In the meantime, the corporation has been spending money on corporate social responsibility according to norms. In today’s meeting, too, the steering committee discussed the projects executed under corporate social responsibility.
NHPC officials said the Thatte committee, probing the downstream impact of the project, is expected to finalise its report by the end of this month. The two-member committee, comprising C.D. Thatte and M.S. Reddy, was constituted by the Planning Commission last year to look into the concerns raised by Assam over seismic threat and the possible adverse impact of the project on the downstream areas in the state.the region had submitted its report in April. But it has not been made public till now.
