Thaindian News

Guwahati, May 9 (IANS) Rajya Sabha MP and BJP national spokesman Tarun Vijay Wednesday raised the issue of the ongoing opposition to mega dams in Arunachal Pradesh and demanded that the central government consider the issue at the earliest.

The BJP MP mentioned the recent incident where some local villagers blocked a 500-metre-long tunnel of the 600 MW Tawang Stage I hydro power project with stones April 30. The villagers have also sent back workers of the tunnel from the construction site.

People of local tribes, NGOs and anti-dam organizations have also been demanding the central government to halt all mega hydro power projects in the state immediately.

Taking up the issue, the BJP spokesperson also warned the central government that the ongoing agitation is snowballing into a major controversy. “Arunachal is a very patriotic state where the tricolour flutters in every village and common villagers speak Hindi. Their patriotism inspires us all, and this is a sensitive border area which is claimed by China,” Vijay said.

“If there are voices of anger and protest over an issue in this region, that must be immediately taken care of by the government before it turns violent and takes an anti-India colour,” Vijay said.

Pointing out that the state government had already signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with various companies to produce 30,000 MW of power, the MP stressed that the government must also examine whether the environment would be affected by such huge and big projects.

He also pointed out that the mega dams and power projects in Arunachal Pradesh have also threatened the existence of Parashuram Kund, a holy place on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.

An anti-dam activist in Arunachal Pradsh, J. Tally hailed Tarun Vijay’s efforts and said that all MoUs and MoAs signed by the state government for construction of mega dams are illegal.

“We have been opposing the construction of mega dams in the past and we will continue to oppose that,” said Tally, who is the general secretary of Siang Bachao Federation (SBF), a platform of several anti-dam organizations in the state.

He also said that the SBF has called a bandh in the West Siang district on two days to oppose the proposed public hearing for the 1000 MW Naying hydel project, which is scheduled May 10 and May 11.