NBWL clears Lower Demwe hydel project, crucial study to be done during dam construction

Even as Wildlife Institute of India (WII), that was tasked with rapid impact assessment of Lower Demwe hydel project on wildlife, stated that it was not in a position to study the damage peak power generation and associated flooding would cause on the river’s ecosystem, the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has cleared the project. The 1,750 MW project is proposed on the Lohit River, Arunachal Pradesh, and is a joint venture between M/s Athena Energy Ventures Pvt.Ltd and Arunachal Pradesh government. 

A two-year study on these impacts, recommended by WII and accepted by NBWL, will now be carried out parallel to the project dam construction, minutes of the NBWL meeting showed. NBWL stated that the construction work can begin only after this study is commissioned. 

The board’s meeting was held on September 7 and was chaired by Union Environment Minister Dr.Harsh Vardhan. 

The study’s objective is to document the project’s impact on Tigers, Bengal Florican, Elephants among other wildlife; modelling of flood intensity impact on Dibru Saikhowa National Park downstream in context of peaking operations. The NBWL also added a slew of caveats while granting its approval. It said that an undertaking or a legal binding instrument has to be signed by the project proponent that peaking operations and resultant flooding will not happen until the two-year study is done.

In its justification for the clearance, the NBWL said, “In the light of the history of this dam site, wherein the submergence zone has been studied and an EIA was approved to give Environmental Clearance (corroborated by Hon’ble NGT ), we feel that the creation/construction of the dam per se would not be critical in undermining the biodiversity values of the region,” minutes stated. 

“The submergence zone of the dam is a habitat which is available elsewhere within the region and is not critical for the conservation of any known threatened, endangered or critically endangered species’ population,” the NBWL added. Activists have slammed this aspect and said that the project is 50 metres from Kamlang sanctuary and will submerge parts of its forests and riverine habitats whereas in the project proposal its distance from the project is stated as 8.5kms. The project has faced opposition on environmental as well as cultural grounds due to its close proximity to the Hindu pilgrimage site of Parshuram Kund. 

WII in its report has recorded a wide variety of wildlife and biodiversity but stated that hydrological modelling of WAPCOS was at a coarse resolution with little data. Thus, it could not say with certainty that chaporis or river islets and low line forests would not get flooded and that there would be no impact on aquatic fauna. Hence, it recommended a bigger study.

“Seasonal natural floods are an important regulatory factor in maintaining this river ecosystem and in turn, the survival of these species. Any alterations in the flow regime may result in its adverse impact on the associated biodiversity,” the WII report said. It added, “The filling of the reservoir should be done while maintaining the minimal water flow downstream so as to ensure least impact on riverscape fauna.”

The NBWL’s nod for the project comes after National Green Tribunal’s Chennai bench (NGT) had quashed the project’s forest clearances and ordered NBWL to reconsider the project afresh. The NGT had said that former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan’s decision to overrule opposition of non-official NBWL members did not have any basis.