The controversial 1,500 MW Tipaimukh hydroelectric project in Manipur has failed to pass the green test of the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) under Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF).
The project calls for 22,777.50 hectares of forest land in Manipur besides diversion of 1,551.60 hectares of forest land in Mizoram. The FAC pointed out, “This is more than one-fifth of the total 118,184 hectares of forest land diverted for execution of 497 hydel project in the entire country after the Forest Conservation Act came into force.”
It has concluded that requirement of forest land is “far too large and disproportionate to its power generation capacity”.
In a yet another decision, FAC has rejected the proposal for diversion of 75.971 hectares of forest land in North Balaghat Forest Division in Madhya Pradesh in favour of South-East Central Railway for broad gauge conversion. The rejection was made on the grounds that it would affect the Pench Kanha corridor, one of the most vital tiger corridors in the country.
The FAC noted that in the last tiger census active presence of tigers was observed in this corridor. Broadening of gauge will result in irreversible damage to wildlife corridor while increasing the frequency and intensity of train traffic.
However, the most talked about is its decision on the Tipaimukh project proposed at 500m downstream of the confluence of the Rivers Tuivai and Barak, near the Manipur-Mizoram border.
“The FAC, after detailed deliberations, noted that very high ecological, environmental and social impact/cost of the diversion of the vast tract of forest land will far outweigh the benefits likely to accrue from the project. It strongly recommended that approval for diversion of the said forest land should not be accorded,” the minutes said.
FAC has recommended that the user agency- North Eastern Electric Power Corp. ltd should on the other hand explore feasibility of smaller dams involving the diversion of smaller forest areas that commensurate with their power generation capacity.
Even Bangladesh has expressed reservations over the project, the report states. The project if allowed will involve felling of more than 7.8 million trees, which is not justified. Further, the project involves the displacement of 12 villages with 557 families and a population of 2,027 members of scheduled tribes in Manipur, the report states.
It is now left to the Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan to take final decision on fate of the project.