Arunachal Pradesh MP seeks Centre`s help for solving dam issue

Itanagar: Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh, Takam Sanjoy, has urged the Centre to immediately intervene into the `impasse` over the Lower Subansiri dam issue and help solve the issue once for one and all.

Sanjoy, in separate letters yesterday, sought the intervention of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Minister of State (independent charge) for Power Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia for a permanent solution to the problem. “Kindly intervene in the matter so that the construction of the 2,000MW Subansiri Lower Project could be started without further delay, which will pave the way for the expeditious development of hydropower in Arunachal Pradesh,” Sanjoy wrote, official sources said today. Sanjoy requested the Centre to constitute a committee consisting of government representatives from Arunachal Pradesh and Assam besides NHPC and the Joint Secretary of Power Ministry which is to be headed by Union Minister of State or an MP of the region so that a permanent solution to the problem could be arrived at. The construction work of the 2,000 MW Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project, located at Gerukamukh along Assam-Arunachal border, has come to a standstill since December 2011 in the wake of a series of agitation launched by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, All Assam Students’ Union and other local organisations in Assam. The executing agency, NHPC, is unable to transport the construction materials such as turbines and other equipment to the project site at Gerukamukh because of the strike by the agitating groups. PTI