GUWAHATI, Aug 27 � The National Hydro Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) which today had a discussion with the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), has agreed to keep in abeyance its work on the Lower Subansiri Hydro-electric Project till its next round of talks with the two organisations.
Revealing this to the media after the discussion, KMSS secretary general Akhil Gogoi said that it placed before the NHPC its stand on the Lower Subansiri Project in unambiguous terms, and the latter agreed to stop all activities centering around the project � including transportation of construction materials to the site � till they met again over the issue.
�The discussion was fruitful in the sense that for the first time we sat face to face with the NHPC and made clear our stand and demands. On its part, the NHPC agreed to keep in abeyance its project work till we sit for another round of discussions soon,� Gogoi said.
Gogoi said that the NHPC would also have a meeting with the State Government on the issue before its meeting with the KMSS and the AJYCP.
In its memorandum to the Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Power, which was also submitted to the NHPC managing director today, the KMSS demanded a series of scientific studies on the Brahmaputra river system covering the river ecology as well those sustained by the river, the cumulative impact on the downstream areas of the dam, and assessment of the impact of existing dams in the Brahmaputra basin, besides another feasibility study of big dams on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra taking into account specific issues of geology and seismic conditions in particular.
The KMSS further demanded that all the studies be conducted by independent scientists or scientific bodies with strong credibility.
�Till such studies are completed, the Government of India must immediately stop (temporarily) all ongoing work of river dams on the tributaries of the Brahmaputra, including the Lower Subansiri Project,� the memorandum said.
