Protest against Big Dam project

Guwahati, Oct 15 (UNI) At least eight major environmentalist organisations today staged a dharna here demanding scrapping of big hydel dams which have come up in Assam and the north eastern region.

The organisations are Peoples Movement for Subsansiri, Brahmaputra valley Krisha Mukti Sangram Somittee, Arunachal Citizen right, NEADS Assam, Citizen's Concern for Dams and Development, Committee against Tipaumukh Development, River Basin Friends and Assam State Dialogue. They staged the dharna in front of the North East Electric Power Corporation(NEEPCO) office here.

The organisations demanded that affected mega dam projects in the north east, including Tipaimukh dam in Manipur and Lower Subsansiri and Ranganadi project in Arunachal Pradesh, should be scrapped or their height lowered to protect the fragile ecology.

They said big dams were not only a huge ecological threat but could also cause serious destruction in a seismologically unstable NE region.

UNI