What is driving hydropower construction in Arunachal Pradesh? https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/energy/what-is-driving-hydropower-construction-in-arunachal-pradesh/
India is currently building as many as six large hydropower plants in Arunachal Pradesh. Experts say high costs, environmental damage and human rights concerns raise questions about the rationale behind the government’s push for dams

Shripad Dharmadhikary, coordinator and researcher at Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, a Pune-based centre that monitors and analyses water and energy issues, said that when carrying out appraisals, the CEA needs to “ensure the project is optimal for the river basin” as stipulated in the Electricity Act of 2003. “However, this is hardly done,” he told The Third Pole.

unnamed officials have been cited in numerous newspaper articles, including in The Times of India, the widest read newspaper in India, stating that India needs to build dams in Arunachal because China could unleash a “water war” through its control of upstream dams.

Nilanjan Ghosh, director of Mumbai-based thinktank the Observer Research Foundation, said the alleged threat “seems improbable and unrealistic – at best questionable”. This is not least because most of the water in the Brahmaputra comes into the river after it has entered Indian territory. He also pointed to evidence of cooperation between the two countries in the form of flood warnings during the monsoon season...

Mickrow and other local communities question this form of development. “We don’t want to be refugees on our own lands. The dams will cause permanent loss of land we use for grazing mithuns [a highly prized bovine species], as fishing grounds and for medicinal plants. Several villages will be cut off. Instead, we need support for livelihoods, hospitals and community development centres,” Mickrow said.

Experts cast doubt on the financial viability of most of the projects. In contrast to other energy production methods, protracted delays – sometimes decades-long – in HEP construction often result in the government giving projects back to public sector units, such as the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd.

In addition to this, at least 13 private company-owned projects have been “returned” to project authorities. This underscores the reluctance of companies to proceed with projects as they fear escalating costs and strong opposition from downstream communities.