Arunachal: NHPC seeks nod to fell 23.4 lakh trees for Kamala hydel

State-run NHPC has sought the Union Environment Ministry's approval to divert 3,278 hectares of high-conservation-value forest in Arunachal Pradesh for its 1,720-MW Kamala hydroelectric project, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday, October 21.

If approved, the diversion would mean felling 23,40,213 trees across Kra Daadi, Kurung Kumey and Kamle districts, according to the proposal documents. About 15.08 lakh of them are in the Hapoli forest division and 8.31 lakh in the Kra Daadi division.

The project

The ₹2,400-crore project, planned as a run-of-the-river-cum-storage scheme, will use the waters of the Kamala, a right-bank tributary of the Subansiri. It involves a 216-metre-high concrete gravity dam with flood moderation features. The reservoir and dam-top areas alone would take up about 2,960.49 hectares of forest.

According to its Social Impact Assessment, 5,440 families in 126 villages would be affected. Of the forest proposed for diversion, 439 hectares is very dense and 1,119 hectares moderately dense. Field surveys recorded 155 plant species from 69 families in the study area.

Kamala is one of a cascade of hydel projects planned in the Subansiri basin.

Clearance status

The ministry's Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), which gives prior approval for non-forest use of forest land, was to appraise the proposal on October 23.

The project was recommended for environmental clearance in January by the ministry's expert panel on river valley and hydroelectric projects, on the condition that final clearance would come only after in-principle forest clearance.

Afforestation in Madhya Pradesh

Compensatory afforestation has been proposed over 7,018 hectares in several districts of Madhya Pradesh. Because Arunachal already has high forest cover, the Forest Conservation Act allows such obligations to be met on non-forest land in states with less forest. If equivalent non-forest land is not available, a plantation twice the size of the diverted area has to be raised on degraded land, which will apply to the Madhya Pradesh plan.

Wildlife concerns

A site inspection by the ministry's regional office in Shillong found the site was not in any national park, sanctuary, biosphere reserve or elephant corridor. But it said the project "will undoubtedly affect the habitats of various wildlife" and that the wider submerged area would hamper animals crossing from one bank to the other. It asked for a wildlife mitigation or biodiversity conservation plan.

Why it matters

The proposal comes amid strong debate in Arunachal over large dams, including protests against the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project.