Northeast people’s groups flag ‘anti-people’ energy policies, warn of displacement

Guwahati, Jan 30: More than 15 people’s organisations from across the Northeast adopted the Guwahati Declaration at a regional energy policy convention, warning that current energy policies are anti-people, extractive and pose serious threats to indigenous lives, land and resources.

The convention, organised by the Joint Struggle Committee for Protection of Land Rights, brought together representatives from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Sikkim.

The declaration calls for the protection of human rights, land, water and forests, alleging that these are being taken over illegally without the consent or participation of local communities.

Participants warned that the cumulative impact of proposed and ongoing hydropower, mining and large infrastructure projects could result in one of the biggest displacements of indigenous people in recent times.

Speakers emphasised that energy policies in the Northeast are being pursued without adequate social and environmental safeguards, despite the region’s fragile ecology and ethnic diversity.

The first panel of the convention highlighted ground-level experiences of land alienation, environmental degradation and threats to livelihoods caused by large energy and mining projects.

Calling the declaration a historic step, Pranab Doley, one of the convenors of the Joint Struggle Committee for Protection of Land Rights, said the convention marked a democratic assertion of people’s rights in the region.

"The framework laid out through the Guwahati Declaration would help indigenous communities protect their resources while pursuing development on their own terms," he said.

Another convenor, Subrat Talukdar, warned that continued push for “anti-people” projects by the Centre and state governments could render indigenous communities homeless in their own land.

He alleged that powerful corporations, backed by political will, are steadily taking control of the region’s natural resources, cautioning that over one lakh indigenous people could be displaced if the current trajectory continued.

Human rights lawyer, Ebo Mili from Arunachal, drew attention to what he described as the erosion of law and order and sidelining of human rights in the pursuit of large energy targets.

Referring to Arunachal Pradesh’s ambition of generating 60 GW of hydropower, he said, "Such plans are being advanced at the cost of people’s rights and shared natural resources."

The convention also examined the broader policy background, including Assam’s Integrated Clean Energy Policy (2025–2030), which targets nearly 17,000 MW of power generation by 2030, combining solar, hydropower and thermal energy.

Participants questioned the rationale behind aggressive energy extraction in the Northeast, noting that the combined peak power demand of all eight northeastern states is less than 5,000 MW.

Speakers criticised what they termed a neoliberal, corporate-driven development model under public-private partnerships, alleging that vast tracts of land and resources had been handed over to large corporate groups, often with funding support from international financial institutions.

They cited disasters such as the Baghjan oil blowout, mining accidents in Meghalaya and Assam, and risks posed by large dams like Lower Subansiri and Teesta as evidence of the dangers inherent in the current development model.

The representatives unanimously agreed on the following demands:

• Complete implementation of the Sixth Schedule in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram; Article 371(A) for Nagaland, 371(G) for Mizoram and 371(F) for Sikkim, along with enforcement of Tribal Belts and Blocks in Assam.
• Repeal of the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023, which exempts forest land within 100 km of international borders from statutory protection.
• Mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for renewable energy projects, including solar power.
• Mandatory Social Impact Assessment for all proposed and ongoing projects.
• Regular and transparent safety audits of all oil-sector infrastructure, including pipelines.
• Enforcement of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in line with UN guidelines and ILO conventions before any project in indigenous territories.
• Full implementation of the 70 per cent people’s mandate in public hearings, along with fair compensation and rehabilitation under the LARR Act, 2013.
• Complete implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, empowering gram sabhas and communities to decide on land and forest use.
• A complete ban on mining in Sixth Schedule areas where FPIC has not been obtained.
• An end to what the declaration calls “false green solutions” such as mega dams, mega solar parks, compressed biogas plants and large pump storage projects in the Northeast.
• Immediate halt to privatisation of the energy sector.
• Strict enforcement of 100 per cent job reservation for project-affected people.
• Zero tolerance for human rights violations and attacks on human rights defenders and whistleblowers.