Begin typing your search above and press return to search.

NHPC carrying out construction defying NGT: AASU

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, June 20 - The All Assam Students� Union (AASU) today alleged that the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has been defying all the legal provisions and the consensus arrived at the tripartite talks on the issue of carrying out construction activities in the 2000-MW Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Power Project (LSHEP). Both the Central and the State Governments are extending support to the NHPC authorities in carrying out construction activities of the mega power project even as the National Green Tribunal (NGT) prohibited any construction activities in the project, alleged the students� body.

It has demanded immediate halt to such activities, which defy the law of the land and are detrimental to the interest of Assam.

The students� body has said in a statement, issued by its president Dipanka Kumar Nath and general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi, that the NGT had made it clear on October 16, 2017 that it had allowed the NHPC only to carry out urgent repairs and emergency maintenance work for safety and protection for the people in the vicinity of the project through its December 11, 2015 and April 5, 2016 orders. The NGT order came in the Tularam Gogoi versus Union of India and Others and Abhijeet Sarma versus Union of India and Others case.

But now the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data have confirmed that the Central sector power company had done 184,574 cubic metres (cum) of concreting in the dam of the project between October, 2016 and March, 2017. To complete this size of concreting, over 30,000 truck loads of concrete were required to be used.

This is despite the fact that the NHPC authorities have been claiming that construction work in the project remained stopped since December 16, 2011, said the students� body.

The NGT will complete the hearing of the LSHEP case by July 25, 2019, as per the directive of the Supreme Court.

AASU has alleged that the Central Government has been ignoring the opinions of the experts of the State and the consensus arrived at the discussion held among the representatives of the Union Government, State Government, State�s expert committee, AASU and 30 ethnic and other organisations of the State. But AASU will stick to its stand that the points raised by the experts of the State on this project are to be settled scientifically.

It has also reminded the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and present Defence Minister Rajnath Singh opposed the mega hydel projects before the 2014 general elections of the country. But now they are trying to carry out the construction activities of the LSHEP defying even the order of the NGT.

Next Story