Guwahati, May 24: The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), that has been opposing big dams in the Northeast, today demanded the report of the new expert committee on the 2,000MW Lower Subansiri hydroelectric project be made public immediately.
The Samiti today said they had received information that the project oversight committee constituted by the Union power ministry in December last year had submitted its preliminary report recently. KMSS publicity secretary Mukut Deka said although the panel comprised eight experts, four each nominated by the government and the agitating groups, the experts had submitted their preliminary report separately.
"The committee members had visited the project site at Gerukamukh on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border and held meetings in Guwahati, Gerukamukh, Delhi and Gangtok together to discuss about the safety aspects and dam design. But surprisingly they submitted their preliminary reports separately. We have received information there was difference of opinion among the members nominated by the government and by the groups. Therefore, we demand the reports submitted by the two groups must be made public immediately," Deka said here.
The project was sanctioned in 2003 with an allocation of over Rs 6,285 crore. The construction, however, was stopped in December 2011, following massive protests by different organisations like the KMSS, All Assam Students' Union and Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad, among others, expressing reservations about the possible adverse impact in downstream areas in Assam.
The current completion cost of the project by NHPC has been estimated at Rs 15,894 crore.
After the Narendra Modi-led government came to power at the Centre, the power ministry had constituted the eight-member project oversight committee after a tripartite meeting in New Delhi in order to break the stalemate. The committee had visited the project site on February 22 and 23 this year and inspected the dam design.
The committee members representing the NHPC and the government are Manoj Tripathi of Central Electricity Authority, S.K. Sibal of Central Water Commission, V.K. Sharma of Geological Survey of India and M.L. Sharma of IIT Roorkee.
Jatin Kalita of zoology department, Gauhati University, Chandan Mahanta of civil engineering department, IIT Guwahati, S.P. Biswas of Dibrugarh University's life science department, and B.P. Duarah, professor of geological science at Gauhati University, represent the Assam side.
"We have received information that the government-nominated panel members recommended resumption of the work while Assam experts expressed concern over the design and could not reach a consensus. If the government does not make the report public immediately, we will launch a massive agitation again," Deka said.
