New Delhi: Days after a major landslide at an under-construction 2000 MW Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project located along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border raised concern among environmental activists and Ajeet Bhuyan, a lawmaker from Assam and Rajya Sabha MP, on Tuesday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his intervention to make accountability and swift measures to prevent future tragedies.
Bhuyan said that landslides at the dam site have been a regular feature due to the fragility of the soil. “The landslide on October 27 blocked the only diversion tunnel working at that time. The consequence was terrifying,” he said. Bhuyan, an independent MP from Assam, said that the Subansiri Dam, as the project is commonly known, is being built without taking into consideration the recommendations of the experts drawn from the universities and technical institutions of Assam.
Referring to the October 27 landslide, Bhuyan said that the incident is only a warning, which can’t be ignored. “The hilly soil of Arunachal is fragile. Secondly, the dam site is earthquake-prone. Thirdly, the base of the dam was reduced by 09 metres without any public explanation. These are enough indications for a major disaster in the coming days,” he told ETV Bharat.
The downstream Subansiri dried up and remained for 16 hours. The duration was enough to kill the entire aquatic life of the river for a long stretch, he said. Bhuyan has sent a letter to Prime Minister Modi addressing his concerns. “Let me assert, Sir, that the fragile soil structure can never withstand the huge reservoir of water. This unavoidable fact was ignored by your experts. I am very much apprehensive that a disaster at the dam site, many folds more destructive than the recently witnessed Sikkim disaster, is only a matter of time,” said Bhuyan in his letter addressed to Modi.
