Guwahati, Aug. 6: Seven hydel projects with an installed capacity of 2,337MW in Kameng river basin in Arunachal Pradesh have been dropped by the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change as they are close to Pakke tiger reserve.
The ministry, after accepting the recommendations of cumulative impact and carrying capacity study for Kameng sub-basin in Brahmaputra river valley, has informed the Arunachal Pradesh government and the Union power ministry of its decision. Out of a total of 44 hydel projects which were considered in the Kameng basin, 37 projects with a cumulative installed capacity of 2,561.9MW have been recommended.
The expert appraisal committee on river valley and hydro electric projects had cleared the study in 2013 in Kameng sub-basin because of development of hydel projects in Kameng sub-basin and its effect downstream.
The report says Arunachal Pradesh has nine wildlife sanctuaries and two national parks of which three sanctuaries - Eaglenest, Sesa and Pakhui - are situated in the Kameng river basin.
"The combined forests of Eaglenest wildlife sanctuary, Pakke tiger reserve, Sessa orchid sanctuary and Nameri National Park in Assam along with surrounding reserved forests cover an area of more than 2,500 square km and form one of the largest protected areas of Northeast. The region presents a fascinating birding opportunity from the lush lowland evergreen forests located in the foothills through the sub-tropical and temperate forests to the high altitude alpine meadows of Sela ridge at 4,500 metres.
Apart from this, the area has more than 500 species of avifauna reported from the area. This include the Ward's trogon, rufous-throated wren-babbler, great and wreathed hornbills, the carrying capacity study for Kameng said.
The report said no more hydel projects should be planned or allotted in the stretch in the entire Kameng basin even if they are of smaller capacity (less than 25MW). The seven projects which have been dropped are Kameng-1, Kameng-II, Pakke, Seba, Pasar, Bichom ST-1 and Bichom-II.
In May this year, the forest advisory committee under the Union ministry of environment and forests had kept on hold the 600MW Tawang hydel project in Arunachal Pradesh as the site is rich in biodiversity with several critically endangered species. The committee, in its report, said the Bombay Natural History Society in its representation has stated that the site is a vital wintering ground of the black-necked crane. The Tawang project would involve felling of 1,99,505 trees, most of them coniferous species.
