Itanagar, Feb 24: The Arunachal Pradesh government’s renewed push for hydropower projects was vehemently opposed by a group of Buddhist monks in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The monks-led Save Mon Region Federation (SMRF) said the proposed projects would not only affect the nesting grounds of the endangered black-necked crane but also threaten several holy Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the region.
According to reports, most of these projects are proposed in the Tawangchu and Nyamjangchu river basins, a haunt of the black-necked crane considered a sacred embodiment of the 6th Dalai Lama who was from Tawang.
State Chief Minister Pema Khandu had in a couple of statements this month hinted at reviving the projects in the Tawang basin.
The Ministry of North Eastern Region tweeted that the Centre “undertakes a massive project to transform the future of hydroelectric power in Arunachal Pradesh,”.
The 780 MW Nyamjangchu project in Zemithang Valley is one of 13 projects with a total capacity of 2,890.10 MW proposed in the Tawang district. The valley is the winter home of the black-necked crane.
On April 2016, the NGT suspended the environmental clearance given to the Nyamjangchu project promoted by the Bhilwara Group, which subsequently led to a crackdown on anti-dam protesters.
