Photo Courtesy: nenow
Itanagar: The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation is pushing to clear over 2.3 million trees in Arunachal Pradesh. The company wants to divert 3,278 hectares of forest land for the 1,720 MW Kamala hydroelectric project. This massive proposal hits the Forest Advisory Committee agenda on October 23. The project involves building a 216-metre-high concrete gravity dam on the Kamala River to harness water for power.
Construction will destroy 23,40,213 trees. Officials earmarked 15.08 lakh trees in the Hapoli forest division and another 8.31 lakh in the Kra Daadi division. The diversion spans across Kurung Kumey, Kamle, and Kra Daadi districts. NHPC estimates the total project cost at Rs 2,400 crore. The reservoir and dam site will swallow nearly 2,960.49 hectares of forest. Very dense forest makes up 439 hectares of this land, with another 1,119 hectares classified as moderately dense.
Compensatory planting is planned far away. NHPC proposed planting trees across 7,018 hectares in Madhya Pradesh to offset the loss. Forest conservation rules allow this transfer when the home state lacks suitable non-forest land. Regional officials from Shillong inspected the site and confirmed it avoids national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Still, the impact remains severe. The report noted that the project would affect wildlife habitats and "the increased width of the submerged area could hinder the movement of wild animals between the two banks of the river."
The ministry requested a formal biodiversity conservation plan. This hydropower project is part of a larger plan for the Subansiri River basin. It threatens the homes of 5,440 families living in 126 villages. Field surveys identified 155 plant species across 69 families in the region. The Environment Ministry previously recommended environmental clearance in January, but only pending this forest diversion approval.
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