Silchar, July 2: A Silchar-based group has asked the Union ministry of environment and forests to withhold forest clearance to the 1,500MW Tipaimukh hydroelectric project in the Northeast as it would lead to massive destruction of ecology in the region.

Addressing a news conference here today, the managing trustee of Bimalangshu Roy Foundation, Rajdeep Roy, said the foundation had sent a memorandum to the ministry where it pointed out that the construction of the proposed 1,500MW power project would lead to massive destruction of ecology and indigenous population of this region.

The project near the Manipur-Mizoram border, 500 metres downstream of the confluence of the Barak and the Tuivai in Churachandpur district of Manipur, received environmental clearance in 2008.

“It is unfortunate that the proponents of the project did not give proper importance to the downstream impact of the dam,” Roy said.

“The seismic vulnerability of this zone is also a matter to be taken seriously or else the consequences would be disastrous.”

The forestland proposed for the diversion has 78,16,931 trees and 27,000 bamboo columns. The project is being executed as a joint venture of the NHPC (69 per cent), Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (26 per cent) and the Manipur government (5 per cent). It was initially proposed to be executed by Neepco.

The project is expected to take 87 months to complete and will come up during the Twelfth Five Year Plan.

The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 9,211 crore at September 2008 price level.

Sources said the ministry was still undecided on granting green clearance to the proposed project as this included deforestation on a huge scale, involving cutting of around 78 lakh trees and 27,000 bamboo columns.

Drawing attention to the recent Uttarakhand disaster, Roy said many environmentalists were of the view that the recent devastating flash floods in Uttarakhand were inevitable because of unplanned and rampant construction of roads and dams in the name of development and the pilgrimage circuit of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri alone has around 70 dams, which are responsible for the ecological imbalance of the that zone.

“There is no core planning committee or disaster management force here to tackle that kind of tragedy here. A detailed disaster management plan must be chalked out to avert any kind of mishap,” he added.

The memorandum was also presented to BJP national vice-president S.S. Ahluwalia and Assam unit president Sarbananda Sonowal during their recent visit to Barak Valley.

“They have assured us that they would take the matter to the proper platform with utmost seriousness,” Roy said.