Bye-Bye to Tipaimukh
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: July 27 , 2013 -
Barak river, where the Tipaimukh project is set to come up :: Pix - Hueiyen Lanpao
In a major victory to the relentless campaign of the green activists, not only in Manipur but also across the globe, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India has denied forest clearance to the proposed 1,500 MW-Tipaimukh Hydel Power Project in Manipur.
The decision is said to have taken during a meeting of the FAC held on July 11 and 12, but it was made public only on July 25. FAC is of the view that the requirement of forest land for the project is large and disproportionate to its power generation capacity, and so it would have adverse impact on the general eco-system of the area where the dam is proposed to be constructed 500 metres downstream of the confluence of Barak and Tuivai River in Manipur along the border with Mizoram.
"The very high ecological, environmental and social impact/cost of the diversion of the vast tract of forestland will far outweigh the benefits likely to accrue from the project.
The FAC, therefore, strongly recommended that the approval for the said forestland should not be accorded," the report of the FAC submitted to the Ministry is quoted to have pointed out. Although a final decision on the fate of the project is yet to be taken and Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajancan can turn down the recommendations of FAC, if she desires, as these are only advisory in nature, it would hard for anyone to negate the environmental as well as the social costs to be paid. And so, one can now safely say bye-bye to the Tipaimukh Power Project.
While the denial of forest clearance by FAC not only to the controversial Tipaimukh Hydel Power Project, but also to the proposed 3,000-MW Dibang multipurpose project in Arunachal Pradesh, has brought cheer to the green activists across the globe, the decision must have obviously given a big jolt to the Government of India.
It has come at a time when the share of hydro-power of India's energy pool has been dwindling.
To meet the mounting energy requirement of a fast developing country, the Government of India has been keeping its eyes fixed on tapping the available hydropower potentials in different parts of the country, more particularly in the North East region, where the estimated hydropower potential is said to be up to 60,000 MW or more, and consequently, construction of several big projects are presently underway.
Leaving aside the question of dependence of the people on the natural resources including forests, rivers, etc, and their ability to cope in a changed environment, there are certain issues ranging from geo-seismic situation to the fragile erosion-prone mountainous region that should be studied and understood before taking the plunge, howsoever, pressing it might be for a robust economy to have affordable energy, to avoid underperformance of the projects.
As a matter of fact, so far, only four of the 12 hydropower projects taken up in the Northeast region have been able to generate at their projected 90 percent dependability or higher while the rest have failed miserably.
Why this is so? Let's think over it as we say bye-bye to Tipamukh Project once again.
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