Guwahati – The ministry of environment and forests has denied
forest clearance to the 1,500MW Tipaimukh hydel project in Manipur and the
3,000MW Dibang multipurpose project in Arunachal Pradesh.The forest advisory committee (FAC), which met on July 11 and 12, has
stated in its report that in both projects, the requirement of for-estland
is large and will have an adverse impact on the general ecosystem of the
area.
Civil society organisations had urged the ministry of environment and
forests not to accord forest clearance to both projects, as these would
destroy the rich forest resources in their respective areas.
On the 1,500MW Tipai-mukh hydel project in Manipur, the committee said the
requirement of forestland was large and disproportionate to its power
generation capacity. “The very high ecological, environmental and social
impact/cost of the diversion of the vast tract of forestland will far
outweigh the benefits likely to accrue from the project. The FAC,
therefore, stro-ngly recommended that the approval for the said forestland
should not be accorded,” the report stated.
The committee recommended that in case the implementing agency desired,
they could explore the feasibility of constructing smaller dams involving
diversion of smaller forest areas commensurate with their power generation
capacity. It had given the environment clearance to the project in 2008.
Dibang has, however, not received environment clearance.
The committee said the Tipaimukh dam required 24,329 hectares of forestland
— more than one-fifth of the total 1,18,184 hectares of fore-stland
diverted for execution of 497 hydel projects in the entire country after
the Forest Conservation Act came into force. It said the forestland
requirement against every meg-awatt of proposed electricity generation — 16
hectares per megawatt — was much higher than the national average.
In its assessment report to the ministry, the Manipur forest department had
earlier said, “No compensatory measure would help mitigate the adverse
impact the loss of such large forest tracts would have on the habitat,
flora, fauna, biodiversity, micro-climate and environment, unless
additional non-forest areas in affected or adjoining districts are taken up
for compensatory afforestation.”
In the case of the Dibang project, the committee said felling of more than
3.5 lakh trees was most likely to have adverse impact on the general
ecosystem of the area, recovery of which may be very difficult through any
type of mitigating measures. “There is no study conducted to assess the
cumulative impact of all the reservoirs and the upstream and downstream
impacts. The ecological, environmental and social costs of diversion of
such a vast tract of forestland, which is a major source of livelihood of
the tribal population of the state, will far outweigh the benefits likely
to accrue from the project,” the committee said in its report.
It recommended that approval for diversion of the said land may not be
accorded.
“The committee’s decision is an endorsement of the concerns of the people
against the impact of the project,” Jiten Yumnam of Citizens Concern for
Dams and Development, Action Committee against Tipaimukh Dam Project, told
The Telegraph.
A source said the companies, could, if they wished, submit different
proposals with reduced impact on forests and others. “The minister can, if
she desires, turn down the recommendations of the committee as these are
advisory in nature. But this is very rare,” the source said. – The Telegraph via waterwatch yahoo group
