By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma has admitted that the Atomic Mineral Division (AMD) has requested the State Government for shifting the proposed Kynshi Stage-II hydro-electric project to another site.
“I have been brief by AMD officials that if the project is not shifted it will submerge areas where there are uranium deposits,” Dr Sangma told reporters on Friday.
He said that the State Government does not have any problem in shifting the project to another site for the sake of protecting the mineral deposits of the State from getting submerged.
When asked whether the Government has already decided to shift the project, the Chief Minister said he was not aware whether such a decision had been taken or not.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the Government has directed hydropower producer — Jaypee Group — to shift the proposed hydro-electric project to another site in order to pave way for the AMD to explore uranium ores on the bank of Kynshi River in West Khasi Hills district.
Jaypee Group through Jaiprakash Power Venture Limited (JPVL) was entrusted with the task of executing the 450 MW Kynshi (Stage–II) project on Kynshi river. According to sources, the AMD in a letter to the State Government few months ago, had objected to construction of the power project at the proposed site on the ground that the areas on the bank of Kynshi river having uranium deposits would be submerge if a dam is constructed at there.
Interestingly, though the letter was sent directly to the State Government and not to Jaypee Group, the government claimed that the decision to shift the project to another site along the river was taken by Jaypee Group itself.
“It was they (Jaypee) who proposed to change the site and we have referred it to the AMD to know whether they had any objection if the power project is executed in another site along the river,” additional Chief Secretary In-charge Power department, BK Dev Verma, said on Friday.
According to Verma, 300 to 400 acres of land will be submerged if the hydro project is constructed at the present site.
The AMD has found a huge reserve of uranium oxide in Meghalaya mainly in West Khasi Hills district. The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) has also proposed to set up a Rs 1,046-crore opencast uranium mining and processing plant in Meghalaya, which has an estimated 9.22 million tons of uranium ore deposits.
However, proposed mining of the strategic mineral in Meghalaya is hanging in fire due to stiff opposition from various organisations especially Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) which is spearheading the campaign, besides people residing near Kylleng Pyndengsohiong Mawthabah, the main project site in remote West Khasi Hills district.