Guwahati: The Assam government has not exerted any pressure on the central government to begin work on the stalled 2000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Project in Arunachal Pradesh.
“We are not pressurising the Centre to begin work on the project as reported in a section of the media. Our stand has all along been clear that we are in favour of the project if it benefits the state but it should not be at the cost of sufferings of the people,” Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said in a statement today.
“We want that the project take into consideration all dam safety aspects and suitably address the issue of downstream impact on ecology. Flood moderation should also be a critical component of the project,” he said.
The state government had on its own constituted an expert committee and a Group of Ministers (GoM) involving stakeholders to study all aspects of the project and take follow-up action.
“Our Government forwarded the report of the expert committee to Union Power Ministry and thereafter, the Centre also constituted various expert committees,” Gogoi said.
It was now up to the present government at the Centre whether it wanted to go ahead with the project or not and the “question of putting pressure to start work of the power project does not arise,” he said.
The state government would, however, provide security, if required, to the engineers and workers constructing the power project, the chief minister said.
Union Minister of state for Power Piyush Goyal had recently announced that the Centre would convene a meeting of all stakeholders to explain the importance of the project in resolving the power crisis in the region.
The Assam unit of the BJP, however, claimed the minister's statement was based on reports submitted by the two Congress-ruled states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh who were keen to restart work on the 2000 MW hydroelectric project.
