Environment / Arunachal

GUWAHATI, Nov 22 - The Union Environment and Forest Ministry has approved the 2,000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Power project under Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act. The project is being implemented by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

The Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department and the Assam Forest Department had earlier sought prior approval of the Central Government under Section-2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for diversion of 3999.30 hectares of forest land (3183.00 hectares in Arunachal Pradesh and 816.30...

SHILLONG, Aug 23 ? Social activists in the North East are up in arms against the construction of mega dams in the region claiming it would bring ?untold suffering and land alienation among the indigenous poeple,? reports PTI. The Citizens Concern for Dams and Development (CCDD), a forum of people movements, NGOs, professional associations and leading citizens here said that the respective governments proposed to construct 168 large hydro-electric projects in the region and 28 of them were at the implementation stage and some others were also being developed.

Talking to media after its three...

GUWAHATI, June 11— Concerned NGOs and members of the public from various corners of Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of the NE region raised serious objections to the way the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) is functioning in the region, at a public hearing on environmental issues on Wednesday. The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd., in cooperation with the Pollution Control Board (PCB), Arunachal Pradesh and the office of the Deputy Commissioner of West Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh, organized the Environmental Public Hearing at the Aalo Club in Aalo, the...

GERUKAMUKH (Dhemaji), June 7 – For the power-starved Assam, the delay in the projected commissioning date of the Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Power Project, an undertaking of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), is bad news. Though dams in the seismically active North East are a cause of serious concern among sundry environmental groups, the positive side of the proposed power station is that once completed, it will feed an additional 2000 megawatts of power into the electric grids of the region.

And while the environmental groups are fuming and fretting over their...

BISWANATH CHARIALI, May 25— About 58,000 hectares of reserve forest areas in north Assam have been devastated following aggression by Arunachal Pradesh on the one hand and encroachment by local people and migrants on the other. Though north Assam has been enriched naturally by 28 forest reservers, existence of many of them has remained in hoardings only. In the Sonitpur district alone, which is home to 13 reserve forests with total area of 77,064.22 hectares, about 30,943 hectares of forest cover has been eliminated and encroached upon by various sects of people.

Of late, Arunachali...

New Delhi, Feb. 5: Elephant conservation in the Northeast is set to get a boost with the decision to establish a few more reserves in the region. While the proposals for two ? Intanki in Nagaland and Deomali in Arunachal Pradesh ? are being prepared and are expected to be completed within six months, plans are on to determine the feasibility of similar schemes in other states.

Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Project Elephant director S.S. Bist said, ?The protected area system does not work for elephants as they require a lot of space to move about. The Northeast has an advantage...

Itanagar, Jan. 18: The power department has submitted a Rs 171-crore project to the Centre for the augmentation of the state?s power system and reduction in transmission cost. Arunachal power minister Lijum Royna said the project has already been sent to New Delhi for approval.

A 132 kV-project for Rs 53.17 crore, to take power from Ziro to Along via Daporijo, was targeted for completion by December this year. Royna said Rs 13 crore remained to be received from the department of development of northeastern region (Doner), which was financing the project.

Another project, financed by Doner, the...

ITANAGAR, Dec 14: Union Minister for Forest and Environment TR Balu assured Arunachal Power Minister Lijum Ronya that stringent laws might be relaxed to facilitate the Lower Subansiri hydro electric project. Ronya, said in a press release here on Saturday that during his meeting with Balu in New Delhi on Wednesday, the Union Minister assured him that he would see that the condition put forth by the National Wildlife Board that the catchment area of Lower Subansiri should be declared as a National Park to net forest clearance for the 2000mw first phase of the hydro-electric project was relaxed...

NEW DELHI, April 10— The 2000 MW Subansiri Lower Hydro Electric Power Project is scheduled to be completed within seven years of procuring investment approval. The National Hydro Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) is currently looking for investment approval. The Project estimated to cost Rs 6,608.68 crore is to be located near North Lakhimpur on Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. The Project received techno-economic clearance by Central Electricity Authority on January 31. However, environment and forest clearance is awaited, Minister of State for Power, Jayawanti Mehta said.

ITANAGAR, April 1 ( APNEI) – Tired of pollution ? We gave you methane petrol , now take “Bio diesel…was the kind of assurance the union minister of state for rural development” Annasaheb MK Patil, a technocrat turned politician having a coveted American university engineering degree, gave to the northeasterners.

Talking to the media persons here Patil made a sensational disclosure that the entire northeast, Arunachal Pradesh in particular, was the hub of jetropa plant, found also in south India, which has already proved its potential in virtually substituting diesel.

Experiments were...