During a review of the status of 13 hydropower projects underway in the state, Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed satisfaction with the pace of progress.?He urged the developers, who are central public sector undertakings (CPSU), to maintain their timelines and complete their respective projects on schedule.
During the meeting, the chief minister further suggested that power developers already working in Arunachal Pradesh explore the possibility of setting up smaller projects in their respective river basins. He noted that the tributaries of the state’s five main rivers are relatively small and could be suitable for generating between 100 to 300 MW of power. Since CPSUs are already developing larger projects, they can also assess the feasibility of smaller ones in these basins.
If this suggestion is taken up, the power developers must first conduct a feasibility study and carry out a detailed and fresh assessment for each specific project. It is often observed that environmental impact assessments are overlooked, which can lead to devastating effects.