ITANAGAR, 2 Nov: Assam MP Ajit Kumar Bhuyan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appealing to him to “disband” the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project (SLHEP), expressing concern over the safety of the dam in the wake of the recent landslide at the dam site.
In his letter to the PM on 29 October, Bhuyan said that “the dam has been built without taking into consideration the recommendations of the experts,” and that the hilly soil of Arunachal is fragile, and the dam site is very much earthquake-prone.
“The base of the dam was reduced by 9 metres without any public explanation,” the letter said.
The MP further said that “the landslides on 27 October blocked the only diversion tunnel working at that time, resulting in the areas downstream remaining dried up for about 16 hours,” adding that “this is enough to kill the entire aquatic life of the river for a long stretch.”
Bhuyan, who is also a veteran journalist, said that the fragile soil structure can never withstand the huge reservoir of water and this unavoidable fact was ignored by experts.
He said that disasters at dam sites are extremely more destructive, as the recent disaster in Sikkim showed.
The Rajya Sabha member reminded the prime minister that he had voiced his opposition to such big dams during the 2014 election campaign in Assam, and that “Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had gone a step further and campaigned that the BJP would scrap the project if voted to power.”
“The people voted for you, and unfortunately you forgot your words,” the letter said.
The MP termed it “unfortunate for the people of Assam that the NGT ignored the earlier decisions of the Kolkata bench and the justice of the Supreme Court, who hastily upheld the NGT verdict, became the chairman of the Human Rights Commission immediately after retirement.”
He said that “the people of Assam refuse to believe that these developments were incidental.”
“The huge dam in Arunachal has been thrust upon the people living downstream in Assam. The knowledge of the Assamese professors was bulldozed by the experts who toed the bureaucratic line of thinking to generate power at any cost. A thorough investigation will also reveal why the cost has escalated three times to about 20,000 in as many years. The dam, till it survives, will also remain an epitome of corruption at different levels,” the letter said.
Bhuyan said that he has been engaged with the dam issue over the years, and that he had “communicated on the issue with the environment, forest & climate change’s department concerned in the recent past also.”
The MP said that “the impending disaster will not spare those responsible for it.”
