Etalin hydroelectric project

Wildlife scientists and conservationists in Arunachal Pradesh flagged threats to local biodiversity from the proposed Etalin hydroelectric project in a letter to the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

Etalin hydroelectric project:

• The contentious 3,097-megawatt Etalin Hydroelectric Project (EHEP) — proposed to be developed as a joint venture between Jindal Power Ltd and the Hydropower Development Corporation of Arunachal Pradesh Ltd — in the state’s Dibang Valley.
• The ambitious project — a combination of two run-of-the-river schemes with limited storage requiring concrete gravity dams on rivers Tangon and Dri.
• Impact:
  • Forest: The hydroelectric project will require diversion of 1,165.66 hectares of forest land and felling of more than 280,000 trees in the area.
  • Drainage: The land in which the project is proposed covers two pristine forests with riverine growth that once cut cannot be replaced.
  • The Idu Mishmi:
    • The Idu Mishmi is an animist tribe in the Dibang valley.
    • The Etalin project and the Dibang Multipurpose Dam (DMD) will directly affect their living areas and imperil their existence.