Green laws be damned, PMO pushes for dam

NO CLEARANCE: Dibang Project’s inauguration has upset the people of Dibang Valley.

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Keywords: Environment Law, Dam

New Delhi: Its Prime Minister's look east policy - In Arunachal Pradesh alone, over a 100 dams are planned, including India's highest dam - the Dibang Project.

But a big question emerging now, did the Prime Minister's Office subvert the environment law of the country? Even as Dr Manmohan Singh laid the Foundation of India's highest dam in Arunachal Pradesh, CNN-IBN has found that the Project's Environment Impact Assessment is not complete.

Twenty-four hours before the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for the Dibang Valley Project in Itanagar- there are protest marches and rallies.

People are angry. The question local people are asking is - why did the Prime Minister not visit the site of the project in Dibang Valley?

Manaya from All IDU Mishmi Student Union said, “We have been kept in dark. We were told out of nowhere that this mega structure is coming up.”

The law says Environment Impact Assessment and a Public Hearing for local consent on projects is a must.

But in the Dibang project this process is not yet through. The PMO has been charged with neglecting due process before.

The POSCO project in Orissa was pushed by the PMO before getting forest clearance.

Human Rights Law Network Activist S Mou says, “Public hearing hasn't been done, environment clearance not given, how can the Government lay the foundation stone.”

The PMO claims that clearances have been obtained from the Ministries of Environment and Forests, Power and the Public Investment Board. PMO sources say the State Government too has granted permission. But this is what the Chief Minister's Advisor had to say.

Advisor to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Takam Sanjay said, “Initially no certificate is given from the Ministry of Environment and forests at the initial stage. When the entire project is prepared when the Government of India approves, then only the project can move forward.”

A clear admission that when the Prime Minister laid the foundation, the paperwork was far from over.

So is the PMO ignoring critical issues such as deforestation and displacement in Dibang?

The dam will lead to massive deforestation of this pristine forest. It will submerge the land of 12000 Idumishmis who live here.