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NGT to hear NHPC petition on March 7

By AJIT PATOWARY

GUWAHATI, Jan 21 - The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has filed an application with the Eastern Zonal (EZ) Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) with a prayer to modify the Tribunal Bench�s October 16, 2017 order to a limited extent in the case related to the Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Power Project (LSHEP).

The NGT Bench admitted the NHPC petition on January 19, and fixed March 7, as the next date for hearing.

It needs mention here that on October 16, 2017, the NGT Bench had asked the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to constitute a three-member committee to examine the technical issues concerning the construction of the LSHEP.

The NHPC, which is executing the LSHEP has made submissions in its above petition before the NGT that the cost of the project might go up beyond Rs 18,000 crore at the April, 2017 price level if its construction is delayed further. Initially, its cost was estimated to be Rs 6,285.33 crore at the price level of December 2002.

Moreover, ��any further delay in commissioning of the project is bound to escalate the tariff further,� it said. It also stated that an amount of over Rs 9,610 crore was invested in the project till December 2017 and more than 50 per cent of its works were completed till December, 2011, since when the work to implement the project has remained suspended.

It argued that the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the MoEFCC may be authorised to assess the technical aspects of the LSHEP. Because, it said the experts on the EAC are of wide-ranging expertise in diverse fields related to hydro projects and are experts in their respective fields.

�Additionally, they would have the backup from the Institutions of repute which they are representing coupled with the power to co-opt any other expert as required at the time of appraisal,� it said, providing a list of the experts on the present EAC and their areas of expertise.

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