[ Bengia Ajum ]
ITANAGAR, 16 Feb: The state’s environment, forest and climate change department has given consent to the NHPC Limited for identification of land for compensatory afforestation in other states in respect of the 1,605 mw Subansiri Upper Hydroelectric Project (HEP) and the 1,720 mw Kamala HEP.
In its consent letter, the department stated: “Arunachal is a hilly state with forest cover of more than two-thirds of its geographical area,” citing it as the reason for allowing compensatory afforestation to be undertaken in other states and union territories against the two NHPC projects.
It has been reported that compensatory afforestation will be carried out in Madhya Pradesh instead of Arunachal Pradesh. The Subansiri Upper HEP and the Kamala HEP will be constructed with a capital investment of approximately Rs 43,000 crore, and are expected to generate about 12,746 million units of electricity annually.
In August 2023, the NHPC Limited signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Government of Arunachal for the development of two hydropower projects with a total capacity of 3,325 mw in the state.
In December 2025, the NHPC issued an order, stating that its office in Upper Subansiri district would remain closed until further notice. In the order, it cited multiple reasons for temporarily closing the office and suspending all operations in the district. The NHPC informed that the decision was taken in view of the cancellation of the environmental public hearing for the Subansiri Upper HEP. The public hearing has been cancelled a couple of times following opposition from the All Tagin Students’ Union.
On the other hand, the pre-feasibility report, social impact assessment, and environmental impact assessment have been completed for the Kamala HEP.
When contacted, PCCF P Subramanyum said that Arunachal is a densely forested state with more than 80% forest cover. In such states, where forest cover exceeds two-thirds of the geographical area, and the availability of degraded forest land is limited, the forest conservation rules provide for carrying out compensatory afforestation in degraded forests of other states, he said.
“The degraded forest land required for compensatory afforestation is twice the amount of the diverted area. Also, the degraded forest land must meet technical requirements such as compactness, not being a natural blank or natural climax forest, and suitability for plantation,” he added.
He further stated that “there is a large requirement for compensatory afforestation land for various development projects, such as the Frontier Highway, hydropower projects, transmission lines, etc, all of which cannot be met from the notified forest areas.”
