The Lower Subansiri project site

Jorhat, Oct. 9: The NHPC has decided to invest another Rs 470 crore in downstream protection work despite a slump in its profits and a possibility of the work at the Lower Subansiri hydroelectric power project at Gerukamukh in Dhemaji district facing closure.

This is over and above the Rs 6,800 crore invested by the company at the dam site and incurring a projected daily loss of Rs 10 crore ever since work was stalled in November 2011.

The net profit has decreased to Rs 978.79 crore in 2013-14 from Rs 2,348.22 crore in 2012-13 mainly because of borrowing and administrative costs of Subansiri and Teesta projects and the NHPC share price has fallen to an all-time low of Rs 19 per share.

The protection against erosion work featured in a discussion with NHPC executive directors in the region, Ronnel Kumar and Rakesh Kumar, and state chief secretary J. Khosla and power secretary Anurag Goel on Tuesday.

The work will be first taken up at two places, Dur Par and Katori sapori in Lakhimpur district, which are facing maximum erosion.

“This is not a geo-tube embankment which lasts for about four to five years but something which will last for more than 20 years. Galvanised iron mesh sacks filled with boulders will be placed in rows atop each other and then buttressed with concrete porcupines. The cost could go up to more than the allotted Rs 470 crore,” an official said.

Money has also been released for CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities pertaining to construction of 50 lower primary schools, including toilets. “We have already constructed 10 lower primary schools and built toilets in another 30. Next, we will take up another 50 schools and construct some of them with toilets or build toilets only in those in which they are required,” he said.

As a last ditch effort, the NHPC is going all out to do whatever is within its means to woo the people but the members of an expert panel on the impact of the dam are not impressed.

The second tripartite meeting held with the panel, NHPC and government officials on June 3 did not break the impasse so that work could start.

The panel co-ordinator and Gauhati University zoology department professor, J. Kalita, said developing agriculture, fishery, stemming erosion was included in the project and the company had to ensure that livelihood of the people was not affected in any way.

“We are not experts on dam construction. What we know is that the dam is being constructed on soft rock of the Himalayan foothills and we are not convinced of its safety,” Kalita said.

Another panelist and Dibrugarh University life sciences department professor S. Biswas, said he had been working on the aquatic biodiversity sphere since the past 35 years and he knew that the river dolphins had the highest density in the Subansiri and there would be a great threat to their existence.

“During the lean winter periods the water released would be only six cumec where as they were used to 350-400 cumec of water during these months. At night, the dam would release about 3,000 cumec and the variation would upset their existence,” he said.

In response, a source said other experts who had been consulted said there was no danger as the dolphins existed in deep water of the Brahmaputra and about 44km away from the dam site. However, unless the expert panel gave its go ahead, groups opposed to the dam like AASU and KMSS, would not budge.

AASU general secretary Tapan Kumar Gogoi said they had received a letter from the NHPC inviting them to inspect the dam safety measures.

“We do not know anything about the specifics of dam construction so we did not respond,” he said.

KMSS president Akhil Gogoi could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. .

Kalita added, “Since so much has already been invested we have asked them to lower the reservoir height and reduce generation. If they do not decrease generation then in the name of development Assam should get 50 to 70 per cent of the 2,000MW of power to be generated. But this is not the case and NHPC plans to sell power generated here to other states.”

An NHPC official said the start of the project the state government had sought only 300MW and Arunachal 240MW, which had been acceded to but after the protests Assam sought 533MW which we again acceded to after curtailing from agreements with other states.

“This is more than 25 per cent of the power to be generated. We would be happy to give them as much power as they can consume as this would cut our costs of sending the power to other states. They are misleading the people if they say that Assam is getting only a minuscule amount.”