Assam Builds up Campaign Against Arunachal Mega Dams

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

A campaign is slowly building up in Assam against the construction of large dams on rivers in Arunachal Pradesh, with experts as well as intellectuals fearing that these dams will have serious implications in the Brahmaputra valley.

Environmentalists, researchers and intellectuals, who met here over the past two days over the issue of mega dams in the Northeast, said while the construction of large dams in the highly seismic region could lead to major disasters in the event of high-magnitude earthquakes, experts also said such dams would adversely affect the identity of indigenous communities. The consultation was organized by the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).

Former vice-chancellor of Gauhati University Amarjyoti Choudhury said since civilizations were always river-centric, the mega dams would destroy the identity of indigenous communities whose lives revolve around these rivers.

“The proposed dams will also severely disrupt the rich biodiversity of the region,” he said.

Arunachal Pradesh has already signed more than 100 MoUs for dams -- big and small -- in the past three years, primarily with the intention of producing power. The 100-odd MoUs signed by the Arunachal Pradesh government have a proposed capacity of producing about 29,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power.

JNU professor Rohan D'Souza, on the other hand, went a step further and urged the Central government to declare the Brahmaputra as a natural endowment and a source of civilization in order to prevent China from constructing dams on it and diverting water to the Chinese mainland.

“In case we ourselves construct dams on the Brahmaputra or its main tributaries, then India will lose the moral right to oppose China's attempts to dam the Tsangpo,” he said.

Pune-based environmentalist Neeraj Wagholikar called for a moratorium on dams till a democratic decision-making mechanism was put in place to take into account the voices of people living in the downstream of the dam projects.

The AGP, meanwhile, demanded keeping in abeyance all dam projects in the Brahmaputra tributaries till comprehensive studies on their socio-economic, environmental and downstream impacts were carried out.

Interestingly, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is also on record saying he was opposed to large dams on the Brahmaputra's tributaries in Arunachal Pradesh.