Blockade against NHPC project

Tezpur: A seven-day blockade began today at Gogamukh in Assam's Lakhimpur district to protest against ferrying by NHPC of construction material to its Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Power Project at Gerukamukh.

Protesters blocked the construction material-laden trucks carrying mixer machine and other equipment to the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation site along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, a police official said.

The organisations backing the protest include the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), All Assam Student Union (AASU) and Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity (KMSS), he said.

One of the trucks was also burnt on Thursday night at Gogamukh and five persons identified by the truck driver were arrested in the Boginodi police station area and sent to judicial custody, Lakhimpur Superintendent of Police, Brajenjit Singha said.

KMSS workers also blocked the NH-15 in the Laluk police station area today for two hours, he said.

Construction work on the 2,000MW project at Gerukamukh has been stalled since December 2011 because of protests by various organisations claiming that the dam would be a potential threat to the people living downstream from the dam site.