NEW DELHI, May 23 � The Centre will shortly rush a team of experts to Assam on a stock-taking exercise on the status of the 2000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Project.
State Power Minister Pradyut Bordoloi, who on Wednesday held a breakfast meeting with Union Power Minister SK Shinde, said that the Thate Committee which studied the Subansiri project is scheduled to visit the State for a final meeting with the expert group. The Thate Committee, constituted by the Planning Commission is on the verge of submitting its report to the Planning Commission.
It has been already conveyed to State Government that the team of experts drawn from various Central agencies including the Central Water Commission (CWC) would meet the Expert Group that studied the downstream impact of the Project, during their tour of the State. Following concerns expressed by Assam Government over the structural safety of the Dam, the Planning Commission has appointed two-member Technical Experts Committee to study the Technical Report of the Expert Group.
A joint steering committee was constituted by NHPC last April, to recommend feasible and practicable remedial measures in the downstream areas with reference to Expert Group�s recommendation on the downstream impact of Lower Subansiri Dam along with issues related to flood, bank erosion and sediemnt control. Sources has further denied that there was a re-think about the Project in the wake the anti-dam agitation launched in the State. As
reported, the Centre has already ruled out the possibility of reviewing any big dams in the country.
