Khandu dismisses public protests on power projects

Itanagar, June 6 (UNI) Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu today made it clear that a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed incorporated suitable relief and rehabilitation packages for the affected people by the power projects.

People had been protesting the move of the state government.

They had been demanding the government to reconsider its decision stating that implementing the projects without proper power policy would jeopardize the very existence of communities likely to be affected by the proposed dams and create unrest among the people.

Various organisations, while opposing the state government's initiative, were of the opinion that the detailed project reports (DPRs) for all these projects had not been prepared.

The safety of the innumerable tribal groups living in the hills sustained their age-old customs and traditions, besides environment impact assessment (EIA) in consultation with the forest department to protect the fragile environment and ensure rehabilitation and resettlement in tune with the national policy had not been considered, they opined.

Demanding reconsideration of the MoAs inviting tenders for hydro project implementation on build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis involving 13 projects with a total capacity of over 7000 mw, the organisations also opposed tenders involving private parties for developing power projects in the state.

Talking to UNI, Mr Khandu blamed his predecessor Gegong Apang for the present state of affairs. He said Apang had signed the MoAs without observing all the required formalities.

Terming all protests as 'politically motivated', Mr Khandu commented that his government was being unnecessarily dragged into the controversy without being involved.

On anomalies in inviting tenders, he informed that earlier, while inviting tenders, a period of only seven days time was allotted but his government had served one month's time.

Meanwhile, joining the anti-hydro-power project protagonists, Arunachal Pradesh Youth Volunteer Front (AYVF) today served a 45-day ultimatum to the state government to reconsider all the MoAs signed with private parties and threatened to call a series of bandh in the state.

UNI