Itanagar, May 12: Environment clearance for the massive 3,097MW Etalin hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh was once again deferred by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects during its 83rd meeting held on April 23 and 24 at New Delhi, according to the minutes of the meeting released today.

Clearance for the project was up for consideration for the second consecutive time after the EAC had sought clarification from the project developer on various technical and financial issues, including those raised by the New Delhi-based NGO South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) in an earlier meeting in February.

On January 28, the forest panel of the Union ministry of environment and forest had also deferred clearance for the project, to be built on the Dri and Tangon rivers in Dibang Valley district, awaiting the completion of an environment impact assessment study of the Dibang river basin.

The Rs 25,000-crore project, which will be built jointly by Jindal Power Limited and Hydro Power Development Corporation of Arunachal Pradesh Limited, will result in the felling of around 2,80,000 trees and submergence of about 119.44 hectares of area.

The EAC had already asked the project proponents in the February meeting on how it plans to utilise Rs 250 lakh to mitigate disasters that could occur from the construction of the project.

It had asked the power developers to "submit the break up of Rs 250 lakh allocated against preparation of Disaster Management Action Plan" and said the "cost of land against land acquisition of the project should be reflected in the environmental management plan" and submitted to SANDRP.

The committee once again raised the same issues and noted that it had additionally received "a number of representations in the mean time for not considering the project in its present form for grant of environment clearance".

The minutes noted that the "EAC deferred the matter till a satisfactory reply from the project proponents is received".

In the same meeting, the committee also deferred clearance and sought additional information for the 74MW Tagurshit project to be built on a tributary of the Siyom river in West Siang district.

The committee "suggested that all recommendations of Siang River Basin Study shall be complied and incorporated in the environmental impact assessment plan/ environmental management plan reports". It also criticised the power developer - L&T Arunachal Hydro Power Ltd - for its relief and rehabilitation plan, stating that "provisions made in these activities are very meagre and should be considerably enhanced at least four times".

The EAC also directed the project proponent to "submit response to the various issues raised by SANDRP".