Guwahati, Aug. 30: An expert panel of the Union ministry of environment and forests has kept on hold the environmental clearance for the proposed 120MW Lower Kopili hydel project on grounds of economic viability.

This was decided at the seventh meeting of the expert appraisal committee for river valley and hydroelectric projects held on August 24 in New Delhi. The proposed project will be funded by the Asian Development Bank.

The Lower Kopili hydel project is located in the east of Karbi Anglong and west of Dima Hasao districts. The project is being executed by the Assam Power Generation Corporation Ltd.

The proposed Lower Kopili Hydroelectric Project is the second stage development of Kopili river catchment area. The first stage, which is upstream of the proposed project, consists of 75MW Kandong hydel project and 200 MW Kopili project. Both the projects are operated and maintained by North East Electric Power Corporation (Neepco).

The project is envisaged to fully harness the power potential of the Kopili river - a major tributary of the Brahmaputra. The dam structure is located on Kopili river and the power structure is located on the right bank. The height of the concrete gravity dam is 70.13 metres. The project has been conceived to run at full potential in monsoon and operate as a peaking station during dry seasons.

Official sources said the committee, after deliberations and considering all the facts, deferred the proposal and decided that a sub-committee would visit the project site and examine whether the project has economic viability in the extreme weather condition (whether the acidic water would be sustainable to the viability of the project). The four members of the sub-committee are N.N. Rai, Sharvan Kumar, A.K. Sahoo and S. Kerkatta.

The total cost of the project is Rs 1,115.91 crore and the total requirement for the project is 1,577 hectares, of which 523 hectares is forestland.

The minutes of the meeting have been made public.

The project will have provision for treatment of acidic water of the Kopili during the construction stage, if required. The reason for water becoming acidic is the indiscriminate rat-hole coal mining in the area.

The Assam State Pollution Control Board organised a public hearing earlier this year at Longku in Dima Hasao where locals raised issues of impact because of sand extraction from the Kopili and impact on the picnic spot located downstream of the proposed project, among others.

The report said absence of fish in the vicinity can be attributed to the acidic water of the river. A thorough investigation has been carried out to inventorise the flora and fauna of the river eco-system through expert fishermen.