Tripartite talks should be held on the construction of LSHEP: Samujjal Bhattacharyya

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: All Assam Students Union (AASU) chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharyya on Monday said that tripartite talks should be held on the construction of Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Power Project (LSHEP) at Gerukamukh in Lakhimpur district along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.

"The talks are supposed to discuss issues such as cumulative downstream impact of the big dam," Bhattacharyya said on the sidelines of a felicitation function at Swahid Nyas here on Monday.

A committee comprising the experts of Gauhati University, Dibrugarh University and IIT Guwahati was formed and the expert committee said that this type of dam was not suitable for a State like Assam which falls in earthquake zone and the dam would have adverse impact on the downstream. It will pose a big threat to the life and property of the people living downstream.

"We have been raising our voice on the issue. We demand 'expert-to-expert' talks on the project. The talks should be held between experts of Assam and NHPC. The government should take a decision only after such a discussion," Bhattacharjya also said.

"We are not satisfied with the functioning of National Green Tribunal (NGT) in the case of the project," he said and added that the NGT had virtually paved the way for a mega dam that was left incomplete in 2011.

In 2019, the NGT had dismissed petitions seeking reconstitution of a six-member expert committee that they claimed was biased towards environment-threatening big dams. AASU leader Tularam Gogoi and president of Assam Public Works (APW), Aabhijit Sarma had filed the petitions.

Bhattacharyya said that the dismissal of the pleas was a move by the Centre to resume work on the project. The big dam project will have affect the people living in the downstream areas of the Lower Subansiri River, apart from affecting wildlife and biodiversity of the entire area.

"AASU will continue its protest until the government does not take appropriate measures to protect the life and property of the people living in the downstream areas," Bhattacharyya added.

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