Report on Lower Subansiri a mere eyewash: KMSS

Guwahati: The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti today alleged that the Dam Design Review Panel (DDRP) report on Lower Subansiri Hydro Power Project was merely an eyewash and has not addressed the areas of major concern raised by various quarters. “The DDRP has converted all larger and complex issues related to Lower Subansiri Hydro Power Project as a mere issue of spillway trouble which means some minor technical problem related to overflow of stored water from the dam,” KMSS president Akhil Gogoi told reporters in Guwahati.[caption id=“attachment_859011” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] KMSS general secretary Akhil Gogoi. Image courtesy Akhil Gogoi’s Facebook page[/caption] The DDRP report has not addressed the larger issues of landslides, downstream impacts, flood control, ecological damages to aquatic wealth and earthquakes, he alleged. The full DDRP report is not in public domain and the three page conclusions and recommendations that have been made public does accept a number of fundamental concerns about the safety, design and adequacy of the Lower Subansiri project, highlighted by earlier reports but the refusal to accept other conclusions, including inadequacy of the seismic design parameters was unacceptable, Gogoi said. Moreover, the DDRP constituted of largely government officers, mainly from the same institutions that had so far sanctioned and pushed the project in current form and which had already proved to be unsafe. “This body, therefore, cannot be trusted and the report of the DDRP will need to be reviewed by a credible independent body,” he added. Gogoi further said that taking the project forward in current form would be playing with the safety of the lives of thousands living in the project impact zone–both upstream and downstream, and would not be prudent regarding the social, environment and financial investments. NHPC is building the run-of-the-river Lower Subansiri Hydro Power Project on the border of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. PTI