Green clearance for Arunachal hydel projects fast-tracked.

Moving to fast-track environment clearance for hydel projects in Arunachal Pradesh, an expert panel of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has shown the green light to a 1200-MW project on the Lohit river and is set to consider for clearance a 3097-MW hydel project in Dibang Valley soon. But in giving the go-ahead, the ministry appears to have bent its own guidelines.

On January 28, the expert appraisal committee (EAC) of the ministry recommended environment clearance for the 1200-MW Kalai-II hydro electric project of Reliance Power subsidiary Kalai Power Pvt. Ltd.

The ministry has listed the 3097-MW Etalin hydro electric project for the next EAC meeting on February 27. The Etalin Hydro Electric Power Company Ltd. is a joint venture company of Jindal Power Ltd. and Hydro Power Development Corporation of Arunachal Pradesh Ltd. The project is on the Dri and Tangon, tributaries of the Dibang river which meet near Etalin village.

indianexpress.com