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ITANAGAR, Aug 12: The Union Ministry of Environment & Forests’ (MoEF) attempt to assert the ‘First User’ rights on rivers of Arunachal Pradesh by accelerating the process of building dams to ‘negotiate’ with China has not gone down well with various sections of the society. Coming out openly against the stand, the Arunachal Citizens’ Right (ACR) today termed it as unilateral decision of the Government of India to impose large storage dams on Subansiri, Siang and Lohit river basins.
In a statement today, the rights based organization said when the policy of large dams in Arunachal Pradesh has already become a controversy here, with protests coming in from communities living in various river basins such as Subansiri, Siang and Dibang, making large storage dams a fait accompli is an affront to the people of the State, who remain pawns in the larger energy security policy of the Government and now in the geopolitical relations between India and China, all without their consent.
Equally serious is the statement coming out of the MoEF that clearances of such projects will be put on fast track, ACR pointed and claimed that the EIA Notification 2006 under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 does not provide for any fast track clearance.
“The MoEF statement means that such projects will be cleared without taking into account the results of public hearings and environment impact assessments of such projects,” it rued and added that a fast track clearance entails violation of its own notification and the Act.
“Rather than making us, the people of Arunachal, the sacrificial lambs and guinea pigs in the India-China geopolitical strategy and negotiations, India should immediately explore the possibility of a joint discussion with China on the issue of riparian rights and water sharing of rivers which flow through both the countries,” ACR suggested.
It asserted that on the issue of riparian rights the people of Arunachal Pradesh will stand by the Government of India’s position on downstream impacts of diversion of river water flow in the upstream of a river basin. However, it added that this would mean the Government of India should also recognize the legitimate concerns over downstream impacts of dams in Arunachal Pradesh voiced by the people of Assam and within Arunachal.
Citing diversion of the water flow of Brahmaputra with consequences on downstream impacts in India, the Indian Government hinted to exercise its ‘first user’ rights to strengthen its position in future negotiations with China over riparian rights.
“Dams on Siang is the most immediate project to be taken up. If we don’t construct the dam on Siang, our position to negotiate with China will be lost,” Jairam Ramesh had said to a joint delegation of Anti Dam movements from Arunachal Pradesh and Assam at new Delhi on August 10 last.
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