Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: Thousands of residents gathered at the village of Ukiam on August 1 to block the proposed 55 MW Kulsi Hydropower Project. Demonstrators from Assam and Meghalaya demanded the immediate cancellation of the development. They cited severe risks to public safety, potential displacement, and long-term environmental damage.
Protests boiled over after the Brahmaputra Board transferred the Detailed Project Report to the Assam Power Generation Corporation Limited. This handoff occurred on July 30. Brahmaputra Board General Manager Abhay Kumar and APGCL Chief General Manager Saurav Saikia signed the documents. The project costs an estimated Rs 1,454.95 crore. Plans include a 60-foot-high dam that could impact 26,000 hectares of land from Ukiam through Chhaygaon to Chamaria.
The Kulsi Nadibandh Birodhi Sangrami Mancha and the Assam-Meghalaya Joint Protection Committee are spearheading the opposition. Joint Protection Committee youth president Biswajit Rabha addressed the crowd. He claimed that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma once gave a clear promise. Rabha stated, "Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier assured residents that no dam would be constructed on the Kulsi River if local people opposed the project."
Activists claim the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti has already pushed for preliminary ground work. The Rabha Students' Union warned that the site sits in a high-risk seismic zone. They noted the project ignores past memorandums sent to government officials. Local Khasi, Rabha, Garo, and Bodo communities remain defiant. They argue the project threatens ancestral homes and livelihoods. Groups also criticized the silence of the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council and local MLAs. Protesters promise to scale up their agitation if the government continues the push.
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