Committee looking to minimise environmental damage from Tipaimukh hydro project

Seventy-eight lakh trees will be chopped as part of the forest clearance process for the 1,500MW Tipaimukh hydroelectric project in Manipur, an exercise that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says will be taken up for "national interest".

The project near the Manipur-Mizoram border, 500 metres downstream of the confluence of river Barak and the Tuivai in Churachandpur district of Manipur, received environmental clearance in 2008. Alarmed by the diversion of a very large area of forest land and felling of more than 78 lakh trees, the forest advisory committee, under the ministry of environment and forests, has recommended that a sub-committee, along with domain experts in the field of ecology, wildlife, hydrology and others, visit the project site to make an on-the-spot assessment of impacts.

The committee, which met on January 11-12 in New Delhi, also recommended that the sub-committee may suggest appropriate measures on further reduction in dam height to minimise forest land requirement.

The committee said the forest land proposed for diversion contains 78,16,931 trees and 27,000 bamboo columns.

Principal chief conservator of forests, Manipur, has been quoted in the report as saying "no compensatory measure would help in mitigating the loss caused by felling of such large number of trees as also the diverse impact on the habitat, flora, fauna, bio-diversity and environment, unless additional non-forest areas in affected districts or adjoining districts are taken up for compensatory afforestation".

The per megawatt requirement of forest land at 16.22 hectares is also substantially high, the committee said.

Manipur had initially submitted a proposal to obtain approval of the Centre under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, for diversion of 20,464 hectares of forest land, which was later revised to 25,822.14 hectares.

Later, according to the consideration of recommendations made by the northeastern regional office of the ministry of environment and forests, the area of forest land proposed for diversion was further revised to 22,777.50 hectares.

Mizoram also sent a proposal for diversion of 1551.60 hectares of forest land, which is being processed separately.

The total diversion is 24,329 hectares of forest land, of which 22,777.50 hectares is in Manipur and 1551.60 hectares is in Mizoram.

The project is being executed as a joint venture of the NHPC (69 per cent), Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (26 per cent) and the Manipur Govt (5 per cent).

It was initially proposed to be executed by the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited.