Anti-dam protests in Assam grow louder
From Our Correspondent
GUWAHATI: A mass protest mobilized by anti-dam protestors from Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), All Assam Students Union (AASU) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP)on Thursday stopped a turbine at Lakhimpur town in eastern Assam while on transit to the 2000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydro-power Project of National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) being constructed at Gerukamukh in Dhemaji district of Assam bordering Arunachal Pradesh.
Thousands of people protesting against construction of mega dams in Assam-Arunachal areas come out on the NH 52 to force the turbine on transit off the highway braving the force used by the police to facilitate the movement of the turbine.
Under mounting pressure from the protestors, Lakhimpur Deputy Commissioner Anuwaruddin Choudhury ordered the turbine to be placed at the local playground in Lakhimpur town.
The protestors threatened to intensify agitation if the administration tried to move the turbine to the dam site.
KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi said, “ The government should better heed to the raging public protest against construction of mega dams otherwise the state will burn and chief minister Tarun Gogoi would face the most tough days in his life.”
The opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) too has joined the protest against building mega dams fearing catastrophic impact on lives and property in downstream areas. The AGP legislator from Lakhimpur condemned the police action against anti-dam protestors who were agitating in a peaceful manner. Meanwhile, all the three AGO members of Parliament today met the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in New Delhi to apprise him of the grave situation that is building in Assam due to construction of mega dams.
Meanwhile, chief minister Tarun Gogoi today said that he was open to hold dialogue with anti-dam protestors to find a way out of the impasse. He was the construction works in NHPC dam site at Gerukamukh were continuing.
“Everybody should understand that we need to generate electricity as much as possible to spur development in all sectors like industry, agriculture,” he said much to the chagrin of anti-dam agitators. Earlier, the anti-dam protestors had forced Dhubri district administration in western Assam to stop movement of a few more turbines meant for the NHPC project.
An expert group comprising experts from Indian Institute of Technology (Guwahati), Gauhati University and Dibrugarh has recommended against construction of a mega dam by the NHPC at Gerukamukh in view of geological and seismological sensitivity of the area.
The eight member expert group was entrusted with the responsibility to carry out detail downstream impact study of the 2000 MW Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Power Project where construction of the main dam had been started by the NHPC without carrying out the downstream impact study triggering widespread mass protests. The expert committee in its recommendations on the feasibility and the safety of the dam says, “The selected site for the mega dam of the present dimension was not appropriate in such a geologically and seismologically sensitive location. The seismic design parameter is not properly chosen for the project. Therefore, it is recommended not to construct the mega dam in the present site.”