Over 3,278 hectares of pristine forest in the Eastern Himalayas may be diverted for the Rs 24,000-crore Kamala hydroelectric project, with the proposal coming up before the Union Environment Ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) on October 23.
State-run NHPC has sought forest clearance for its 1,720 MW project, comprising eight 210 MW units and one 40 MW unit, expected to generate about 6,870 million units (MU) of green energy project proposed on the Kamala River, a major right-bank tributary of the Subansiri, spread across Kra Daadi, Kurung Kumey and Kamle districts.
According to documents submitted to the Ministry, the project will require felling of 23,40,213 trees. Of these, 15.08 lakh trees fall under Hapoli forest division and 8.31 lakh under Kra Daadi division. The forest includes 439 hectares classified as Very Dense Forest and 1,119 hectares as Moderately Dense Forest, harbouring 155 plant species across 69 families.
The run-of-the-river cum storage project envisages a 216-metre-high concrete gravity dam with flood moderation features. The reservoir and dam-top alone will occupy 2,960.49 hectares of forest land. The project is part of a cascade of hydel projects planned in the Subansiri basin.
While the regional office in Shillong noted that the site does not fall within any national park, wildlife sanctuary or elephant corridor, it warned that the project “will undoubtedly affect habitats of various wildlife” and that the increased submergence width “will adversely affect migration of wild animals from one bank to the other,” seeking a detailed wildlife mitigation and biodiversity conservation plan.
The proposal had earlier received a recommendation for Environmental Clearance in January from the river valley expert panel, subject to in-principle forest clearance.
To compensate for the loss, NHPC has proposed compensatory afforestation over 7,018 hectares, more than double the diverted area, on degraded land across several districts of Madhya Pradesh. Under the Forest Conservation Act, such inter-state compensation is allowed for Arunachal Pradesh due to its high forest cover.
The Social Impact Assessment report indicates that 5,440 families in 126 villages will be affected by the project, which will come up in a valley that is almost entirely hilly and covered by dense forests.