To be built in Arunachal Pradesh More than 80,000 trees will be felled for two major hydroelectric projects‘B and about,131 hectares of forest land will be used for other purposes‘b.
The Forest Advisory Committee under the Union Ministry of Environment has come out with alarming findings. However, the Union Ministry has given in-principle approval to both the projects subject to strict environmental and wildlife conditions.
The larger of these two projects is the Red River Basin Construction Project‘1. Necessary,200 MW Kalai-2 Hydroelectric Project. The project will be constructed by THDC India Limited utilizing 869.3503 hectares of forest land of Namchai and Anjao Forest Divisions.‘b. 33 for this work alone,338 trees are proposed to be cut. Out of this total forest area, about 638.456 hectares will be flooded and the rest for road construction, who, Used for garbage disposal and other purposes‘b. The gibbon is native to this region, Monkey with a hat, Assamese monkey, cheetah cat, Sharapahu, Rare wildlife can be found, such as takin and the critically endangered white-bellied heron. Therefore, the Wildlife Institute of India has been directed to make special plans for the conservation of the white-bellied heron.
The second project will be constructed in Talo river basin in Dibang Valley district‘Atunli Hydroelectric Project of 680 MW capacity. The project will be constructed by SJVN Limited and 261.53 hectares of forest land will be cleared‘b and 47 alone for this,243 Jopo trees are cut‘b. This area is very densely forested. The Arunachal Pradesh government has been asked to conduct geological surveys through specialist institutes to prevent landslides and soil stabilization in the region. But the project is over‘Around 120.57 hectares of land including garbage dump will be returned to the forest department‘b.
Arunachal Pradesh is one of the richest states in India with biodiversity and forests. However, there are fears that such attempts at hydropower projects in the state could seriously damage the environment and destroy wildlife habitats. Experts are also concerned that this may have a negative impact on the environment of the Brahmaputra river valley as a whole.