Now Reading: Arunachal gets nod for 1,000 MW hydel project, 1 lakh trees to be felled
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Arunachal gets nod for 1,000 MW hydel project, 1 lakh trees to be felled
Arunachal gets nod for 1,000 MW hydel project, 1 lakh trees to be felled
The Story in Brief
The Union environment ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has granted Stage-I clearance for the 1,000 MW Nayang hydropower project on the Siom river in Arunachal Pradesh’s Shi-Yomi and Siang districts. The project, to be executed by North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO), will use about 470 hectares of unclassified forest land, land recorded as forest but not reserved or protected, and requires felling over 1 lakh trees.
The clearance comes amid ongoing protests against the larger 11,200 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP). Tagori Maize, spokesperson for the Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum (SIFF) which is leading the resistance, alleges that over 3,000 paramilitary personnel have been deployed across three districts and that communities have neither been informed nor consulted. The FAC’s 23 October meeting noted the project lies in a high conservation value zone with dense forest cover. The EIA report records that the 138-metre gravity dam will displace over 400 families in 12 villages and alter the natural habitat of at least 20 fish species, an impact it says cannot be fully mitigated. Compensatory afforestation conditions must be met before Stage-II final approval.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Both Aaj Tak and TV9 Hindi carry near-identical wire copy on the FAC’s approval for the Nayang project, reporting the same figures, 1,000 MW, 470 hectares, 1 lakh trees, 400 families, 12 villages, and the same opposition from the Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum. The coverage is uniform straight reporting with no discernible slant: both outlets lead with the clearance, note the ongoing protest against the larger SUMP, and end with the environmental impact on 20 fish species and two wildlife sanctuaries. Neither outlet adds independent analysis or omits a significant detail the other includes. The implications rest on the EIA report’s own admission that the project’s major ecological impacts, habitat change, breeding-cycle disruption, cannot be fully mitigated. The next concrete date is Stage-II formal approval, for which compensatory afforestation conditions must be met.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): aajtak.in (neutral report), tv9hindi.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
