A Union Environment Ministry panel, the Forest Advisory Committee, has recommended in-principle forest clearance for the 1,000-MW Naying Hydro Electric Project on the Siyom River in Arunachal Pradesh, a decision that would require the diversion of about 470 hectares of forest land and the felling of more than one lakh trees.
The Siyom is a tributary of the Siang. The run-of-the-river project, to be developed by NEEPCO, is planned in Shi Yomi and Siang districts and involves a 138-metre-high concrete gravity dam. The project would affect more than 400 families and 12 villages, according to the project documents.
What the clearance would cost the forest
The land is unclassed forest, recorded as forest but not in the reserved or protected category, and the minutes note it falls in a high conservation value zone with very dense forest patches. The site lies 9.71 km from the Yorde-Rabe Supse Wildlife Sanctuary and 19.55 km from the Mouling Wildlife Sanctuary, and the site inspection report warned the project would undoubtedly affect wildlife habitats and hinder animals migrating between the two banks.
The environmental impact assessment adds that the dam and reservoir will alter fish habitats and affect breeding and spawning, an impact that cannot be mitigated completely. It records 20 fish species in the river and its tributaries, though there is no commercial fishing in the area.
Stage-I is not the final word
Stage-I approval is not final: NEEPCO must meet conditions, including compensatory afforestation, before Stage-II approval for formal diversion can be granted. The committee also noted the dam would help meet the Northeast’s power needs, with surplus electricity available to other states.
The wider unrest over dams in the Siang valley
The clearance comes amid unrest over the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, a far larger dam proposal in the same region. Indigenous communities say it would affect their ancestral lands, rivers, livelihoods and cultural heritage. Tagori Mize, spokesperson of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum, which is leading the protests, has said more than 3,000 paramilitary personnel had been deployed across East Siang, Siang and Upper Siang districts. He alleged that landowners had never been informed or consulted about the dam and that unlawful means were being used to manufacture majority consent. Those allegations have not been independently verified.
The release of four detained protesters in the Siang dam row eased one flashpoint, while the state government’s earlier talks with community groups over the Siang project show that dialogue has been attempted even as the dispute continues. What matters next is whether NEEPCO meets the Stage-I conditions, how compensatory afforestation is carried out, and whether affected families are consulted before Stage-II.
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