When politicians become God, we certainly dont need any expert committees to assess impacts of projects: The Forest Advisory Committee of India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests cleared the dam last week, subject to a reduction in the dam height by 20 metres from the originally envisaged 288 metres. The committee has refused environmental clearances for the project twice before on the grounds it would destroy forests and impact the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park downstream in Assam state. The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) –the company behind the dam – submitted several revised proposals to the ministry, reducing the amount of forest cleared and the height of the dam structure. But on August 28 the Forest Advisory Committee rejected the latest proposal to submerge more than 45 square kilometres of forest land for the project. The committee concluded the “ecological and social costs of destroying a vast tract of forest land which is a major source of livelihood for the state’s tribal population would far outweigh the benefit likely to accrue from the project.” However, days later the Prime Minister’s principal secretary sent a letter to the Environment Secretary on September 3 to “clear the project expeditiously” as per the decision of the Cabinet Committee on investment.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 06:09:19 +0000
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