New Delhi: The Centre has announced that work on the stalled 2000-mw Subansiri Hydro-electric Power Project will resume ‘soon’.
Speaking to reporters here on 27th May, Union Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said the government was very conscious of its responsibilities towards the environment, but admitted that development of hydel projects was a sensitive issue, particularly in Assam, where some organisations are agitating. He addressed the press conference to highlight the achievements of his Ministry during the last one year.
Giving a brief of his ministry’s initiatives to resolve the impasse over the Subansiri dam at Gerukamukh along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, Goyal said his ministry called a meeting of all the organisations opposed to the dam in New Delhi. He said he heard representatives from all these organisations during the two days of extensive discussions.
Stating that an oversight committee has been set with experts from the Centre and the State government, the Minister declared that work on the hydro-power project will begin.
An expert committee comprising eight members – four each from the Centre and the State – was proposed to be constituted on 11th December last year to study the project. The decision was reached at a consultative meeting convened by the Union Ministry of Power to break the logjam over the Subansiri project, which has been stalled for the last three years.
The meeting was chaired by Goyal and co-chaired by Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Sarbananda Sonowal. The meeting was attended by representatives of 29 organisations, including the AASU, AJYCP and KMSS, besides 23 ethnic bodies. It was also attended by 10 MPs cutting across party lines.
Executed by the NHPC Ltd, work on the Subansiri Hydro-electric Power Project has remained suspended since December 2011 following widespread agitation although 60% of the work is complete. (ENe)
