Halt power project on Assam, Arunachal border: Experts (Hindu 03 July 2010)

Guwahati: The Expert Group constituted to study the downstream impact of the ongoing 2,000-MW Subonsiri Lower hydro-electric power project of the National Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC) at Gerukamukh on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border has recommended that the mega dam not be built at the present site.
From the geological, tectonic and seismological points of view, the Expert Group has suggested in its report not to consider the Himalayan foothills for any mega hydro-power project.
The All Assam Students' Union (AASU), which distributed copies of the over 400-page report to journalists here, asked the Centre, the Assam Government and the NHPC to immediately halt ongoing construction of the project.
“The present investigations carried out to examine the downstream impact of the project reveal gross inadequacy in the relevant facts relating to construction of the dam at the present site by the concerned authorities. The selected site for the mega dam of the present dimension was not appropriate in such a geologically and seismologically sensitive location. The seismic design parameter is not properly chosen for the project…. Therefore, it is recommended not to construct the mega dam in the present site,” stated the Expert Group report.
It also recommended redesigning of the project by sufficiently reducing the dam height and production capacity.
The proposed height of the dam is 116 metres.
The eight-member Expert Group comprised two experts from IIT Guwahati, four from Gauhati University and two from Dibrugarh University. The decision to constitute the expert group was jointly taken by the Union Ministry of Power, AASU, the Assam Government and the NHPC following a vigorous movement by AASU and several other organisations demanding a halt to the dam.
The Expert Group is of the view that even after redesigning the dam, its operation will have many environmental and socio-economic problems in the downstream. To minimise these, the Expert Group has made 31 recommendations.