Two months after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) suspended forest clearance for the 1750-MW Demwe Lower hydroelectric project in Lohit district, Arunachal Pradesh, the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) is re-examining its ecological impacts. In its last meeting on December 8, chaired by Environment Minister Dr.Harsh Vardhan, the NBWL directed a three-member committee to visit the project site and submit a detailed report on the project's impact.
The committee will comprise NBWL's non-official expert member R Sukumar and one representative each of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and National Tiger Conservation, the minutes of the meeting show.
In October, the NGT's southern bench in Chennai had ruled that former Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan's decision to overrule the non-official expert members of NBWL to clear the Demwe Lower project was taken without any basis in reason and was not sustainable in law. The NGT bench then suspended the Stage-I and Stage-II forest clearances for the project and directed the NBWL to reconsider the project afresh and "pass appropriate orders within a period of six months".
"The expert committee will look into the appraisal process and reports submitted to the NBWL in 2011 on the project's ecological impacts. Along with this, they will go to the ground and inspect its impact," a member of the NBWL told DNA.
Natarajan had overruled the concerns of expert members regarding downstream impacts of the hydro electric project in Assam, in particular the Dibru Saikhowa National Park and Biosphere Reserve and Kamlang Sanctuary.
Demwe Lower is a joint venture of the Athena Energy Ventures and the Arunachal government. The project was not only opposed by environmentalists, but even the Ministry of Tourism had raised concerns about its impact on the Parshuram Kund, which an important cultural and religious site for Hindus.
Reassess
Natarajan had over-ruled concerns regarding downstream impacts, in particular the Dibru Saikhowa National Park, and Kamlang Sanctuary.
Two months ago, the NGT bench suspended the Stage-I and Stage-II forest clearances for the project
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