AAPSU threatens to forcibly shut down Yazali power plant

Itanagar, Jan 17 (PTI) The All Arunachal PradeshStudents Union (AAPSU) has threatened to forcibly close downthe 405 MW Ranganadi Hydro-Electric Power Plant (RHEP) atYazali in Lower Subansiri district if the project authoritiesfail to meet its charter of demands within a month.

The apex students'' body submitted a ten-point charterof demands to RHEP authorities when a delegation of AAPSU ledby its president Takam Tatung called on the Head of Project,Nepuni K Mao at Yazali recently.

The AAPSU president claimed that North East ElectricalPower Corporation (NEEPCO), the project authority has failedto keep up its promises made to the people affected by theproject.

"Decades have passed but local Arunachalees have notbenefited from this project," Tatung said.

The union said that the hydropower project has changedthe whole topography of Yazali and its adjoining areas.

"When this project was implemented local people weremostly uneducated and did not know much about the effects ofdam."

AAPSU demanded the NEEPCO authority to ensure 50 percent of water to be allowed to flow so that agriculturalactivities do not get affected in downstream areas.

It also urged them to provide fund for anti-erosionworks at Lichi, Hawa Camp and Kimin.