Naturalists who have visited the areas to be affected suggest that the combined effect of the roads, mines and dams could forever wipe out this region's unique, fabled, but fragile natural heritage. If the dams are allowed to come up, the extinction of many rare and endangered plants and animals will be a foregone conclusion.
Ironically, it is the historical neglect of the area that has prompted the thirst of locals for what they see as 'development' that was thus far reserved for the rest of India. The list below is by no means complete, but it does give an idea of the holocaust in store for the region. By some estimates the profits to be earned by cutting and selling the trees that are slated to drown, may well exceed the construction cost of the dams!
The Subansiri and Dehang hydel power projects are only some of the large dams that have been proposed in the Brahmaputra valley. These projects alone will require nearly 28,000 hectares of wildlife-stocked forest land and preliminary estimates put the cost at a whopping US $ 200 billion. The Dehang-Debang Biosphere Reserve and the soon-to-be notified Namdapha Biosphere Reserve lie within the proposed impact zone.Â
The Kameng hydel power project at Tipi threatens the Namheri National Park and the Pakui Wildlife Sanctuary, which have just been brought under the Project Tiger mantle. The Myndtu (Leshka) project in southern Meghalaya involves a 59 m. high dam and will drown over 50 ha. of forests inhabited by tiger, jungle cat and binturong, among other wildlife.
The Tuirial (funded by the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan) and Tuivai projects in Mizoram, the Ranganadi Stage II Project in Arunachal Pradesh, Lower Kopili in Assam, are only some of the hydroelectric projects being constructed by just one company, the Northeast Electric Power Company (NEEPCO). NEEPCO is also constructing the 1500 MW Tipaimukh Hydroelectric Project at the confluence of the Tuivai and Barak Rivers in Manipur, near the Manipur - Mizoram border, which will be the largest hydroelectric project in Eastern India and the 75 MW Doyang Hydroelectric Project on the river Doyang in Nagaland.
In addition, the 100 MW Papumpam,105 MW Pakke and 100 MW Dikrong Hydel Projects in Arunachal Pradesh are at the investigation stage. Each could lead to greater loss of biodiversity than the infamous Sardar Sarovar Project.
Conclusion: Aside from a loss of wildlife and biodiversity, the deforestation that accompanies dam building will increase mean temperatures over the region, aggravating climate change. India would be better off looking at less damaging alternative energy options, but this does not concern power brokers who will earn more from the timber sales (all the dams involve clear felling of old growth trees), than from construction contracts.
Comprehensive Environmental Assessments have not been conducted to assess the impact of these projects. Nor have projections been made on the cumulative effect of so many projects concentrated in a relatively small area. Ironically, given the geology of the area, siltation (thanks to geological instability, seismicity and catchment denudation) would probably render the dams useless in a few short years.
Write a letter for more details on the above schemes, protest the destruction of our irreplaceable biodiversity and ask that available alternatives be implemented.
