Over 22 organisations in Assam have decided to protest against the mega 2,000 MW capacity hydropower project set up by the state-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) along the Arunachal Pradesh-Assam border from September 20.
As per reports, announcing the collective decision, Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) leader, Palash Changmai, said on Monday that these organisations would launch a series of protests, including blockade of the project site, against the NHPC.
In this connection, AJYCP on Saturday even organised a public meeting where various experts, including geologists and hydrologists, had highlighted a threat to downstream areas of the Subansiri river.
Changmai claimed that work on the project was resumed without consulting 965 villages across four districts downstream of the hydroelectric project.
These districts in eastern Assam adjoining Arunachal Pradesh include Biswanath, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Majuli. All Assam Students' Union and All Assam Adivasi Students' Association leaders had attended the Saturday meeting as well.
Commissioning of the 2,000 MW (8×250 MW) Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric project at Gerukamukh was started in 2006 but work had been stopped in 2011 following agitations fearing ecological damage and loss of livelihood. The construction of the Rs 20,000 crore power project had resumed more than a year ago during the Covid-19 induced lockdown. Because of the delay in completion, the NHPC has suffered huge losses.
