New Delhi: More than one lakh trees will be cut and around 470 hectares of ‘unclassified forest’ land will be diverted as the Union Environment Ministry’s forest advisory committee (FAC) has given its approval for establishment of 1,000-MW Naying Hydro Electric Project on Siyom River – a tributary of the Siyang River – in Arunachal Pradesh. The development came amid rising tensions related to the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), as Indigenous communities in the region claimed that its construction would affect their ancestral lands, river systems, livelihoods, cultural heritage and territorial rights.
Naying Hydro Electric Project will be operated by North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited and built in Arunachal Pradesh’s Shi Yomi and Siang districts, leading to the diversion of around 470 hectares of ‘unclassed forest’ land and felling of more than one lakh trees, according to sources. ‘Unclassed forest’ is an area recorded as forest but not included in the reserved or protected forest category. Ownership status of such forests varies from state to state. The project’s proposed area also falls within a high conservation value (HCV) zone, meaning the forest land needing diversion comprises very dense forest patches, according to the minutes of the FAC’s meeting held October 23. It was during this meeting that the committee recommended the project for grant stage-I (in-principle) approval for the forest land diversion. Stage-I clearance stipulates conditions, including compensatory afforestation, which must be fulfilled before stage-II formal diversion approval can be granted.
Last week, Tagori Mize, spokesperson of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF) – the organisation at the forefront of protests against SUMP – said more than 3,000 paramilitary personnel were deployed across three districts, namely East Siang, Siang, and Upper Siang. He added that the communities and individual landowners were never informed or consulted about the proposed dam project. “Instead, unlawful means are being used to forge majority consent, and the signatures are being obtained by misleading people,” said Mize. That’s why the latest clearance granted to Naying Hydro Electric Project could exacerbate the situation in the region. The project, which involves construction of a concrete gravity dam 138 m high from the deepest foundation level, will affect more than 400 families and 12 villages.
The environmental impact assessment (EIA) report of the project found: “While commercial fishing is absent, occasional fishing using cast nets, gill nets, and drag nets is carried out by local villagers. Surveys and consultations reveal the presence of 20 fish species in the river and its tributaries.” Moreover, the proposed forest land that needs to be diverted for the project is located at a distance of 9.71 km from the Yorde-Rabe Supse Wildlife Sanctuary and 19.55 km from the Mouling Wildlife Sanctuary.
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