By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The State Government has directed Jaypee Group, which has been entrusted to execute the 450 mega watt Kynshi (stage -II) hydro electric project on Kynshi river, to shift the project 3 km downstream.
The Government issued this directive following the Atomic Mineral Division’s (AMD) request to the State Government for shifting the project to another side “since there is a fear that it would submerge the areas where there is uranium deposits.”
“We have asked Jaypee Group to shift the project 3 km downstream to ensure that the uranium deposits in the area do not get submerged,” a senior government official said on Thursday.
The official also informed that the representatives of the company and AMD officials would meet in the early part of next year to take a final call on this matter.
“If the AMD gives the clearance then Jaypee can immediately start the survey and prepare the detailed project report (DPR),” he said.
Stating that the uranium deposit in the earlier site is huge, he said not much of the uranium deposits in the area would submerge after the shifting of the project.
It is believed that around 300 to 400 acres of land will submerge if the hydro project is taken up at the present site.
Earlier, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma said the State Government does not have any problem in shifting of the project for the sake of protecting the mineral deposits of the State from submerging.
The AMD has found an estimated 9,500 tonnes of uranium oxide reserves in Meghalaya mainly in West Khasi Hills district.
It has also proposed to set up a Rs.1,046-crore open-cast uranium mining and processing plant in Meghalaya, which has an estimated 9.22 million tonnes of uranium ore deposits. The proposed mining of uranium in Meghalaya is still hanging in fire due to stiff opposition from anti-uranium activists especially Khasi Students Union (KSU) which is spearheading the campaign besides people residing near Kylleng Pyndengsohiong Mawthabah, the project site in remote West Khasi Hills district.
