Centre to keep country’s largest hydel project in Arunachal on hold

Guwahati: Opposition from civil society groups has forced the Indian government to temporarily put on hold the 3097 MW Etalin hydel project in Arunachal Pradesh – the country’s largest hydroelectric project.

The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change, which held a meeting last month on the project, states that there are a large number of representations expressing concerns against the project. The FAC stated that “to resolve the issues raised in various representations, the Arunachal Pradesh government may constitute a high-level empowered committee to look into the various concerns received and come up with a resolution.”

The project in the Dibang Valley district involves the felling of 2,78,038 trees over an area of 1,165 hectares, raising concerns among civil society groups. Interestingly, the project is being built on the same river, the Dibang, where the 2,880 MW Dibang Multipurpose Project was recently commissioned.