Say 'No' to the Demwe Hydro Project in Arunachal

In February 2012, the Hindu, carried two little reports, side by side, on its last page.  The first piece read “Films to help promote Incredible India campaign”, while the piece by its side read “Jayanthi overrules wildlife panel to approve Arunachal dam.”

The irony could not have been greater.

The first report is self-explanatory, so let’s go to the second.  Jayanthi Natarajan is the Union Minister for Environment & Forests, with a mandate to protect and preserve what is left of our forests.  She overruled a committee set up by the National Board of Wildlife that recommended the shelving of a proposal to create a dam across the Lohit river in Arunachal Pradesh (called the Demwe Lower Hydro Electric Project).  This committee, comprising respected wildlife experts, visited the site (which the Minister did not) and detailed the damage to the river and grassland ecosystem, as a result of the dam : fragmentation of wild water buffalo habitat, threats to the Gangetic river dolphin (which, by the way, is our National Aquatic Animal, declared so by Dr Manmohan Singh himself in 2010) and the Bengal bustard.  The ecosystem to be submerged is considered to be priceless and includes a conservation area of medicinal plants, according to the report.  The summary that I read of the report, mind you, did not detail the damage caused to the ecosystem during the construction or the social impact of a large number of construction crews descending on the small villages in the area.

This project is stated to generate 1750 megawatts of electricity, to be transmitted across the country to the power deficit states. About half – I repeat, half - of the energy will be lost in transmission.  The rest will be consumed by the growing business districts that now dot our urban landscapes- malls, centrally cooled homes, climate controlled offices and entertainment parks, none of whom have an idea of just what irreversible damage they are causing to our own collective future.

The Ministry’s defence was that “the spirit of the clearance system (which phrase itself is indicative of the Government’s preference – clearance) demands evaluation of trade offs for balancing the developmental needs with environmental sustainability, examination of the scope of mitigation and capacity of the ecosystems to withstand the impact.  The project, therefore, needs to be considered in the light of this overarching principle.”  In other words, rubbish.

Arunachal Pradesh is not just a part of wild India.  It is the best part of wild India, most of it unexplored, unknown to science and undocumented.  Yet, there are a hundred and fifty dams being built across Arunachal, each with a raison de etre that defeats common sense.  Each dam is a nail in the State’s ecological treasure trove, sealing its future.  My friends, who have spent time across the state, detail the exacting price being extracted: the destruction of livelihoods and forests, increased conflict between humans and humans on one hand, and humans and animals on the other, destruction of tribal culture and loss of their dignity.

Sure India needs power, but at what permanent cost?

Instead of involving the brightest technical minds in this debate and formation of policy, and incentivising energy conservation and dis-incentivising wasteful consumption (such as by paddy growers in Tamil Nadu, where power is free for them), and urgently replacing inefficient transmission lines across the country that create power losses and mandating large office and residential complexes to generate some part of their power need using solar energy, instead of  these sensible measures, the Government’s bureaucrats and vacuous- headed Ministers have moved with ferocity to generate hydro-electric power from every possible source, using their limited understanding of science to destory.   This is the arrogance of power, this is technology without conscience.

So, what can you do?

A great deal.  For starters, do not just take my word, read up on the project (and on the other projects sanctioned in Arunachal).  Then, if you are convinced, please speak up.   Write to the Minister at mosefgoi@nic.in expressing your dismay at her decision and requesting a rethink on the Demwe project.  You may mention that there are smarter options than hydro-power today and that we need to leave Arunachal alone.

Because if we see it as someone else’s problem, we forget Chief Seattle’s immortal words : do not forget, the World is round.