Assam, especially people of Lakhimpur are up in arms against NEEPCO’s Ranganadi hydel power project as release of water from the dam reservoir without any warning a few days ago had flooded vast swathes of areas downstream. Lakhimpur had to bear the brunt of the release of the water more than 160 cubic metres per second. Commissioned in 2001, the Ranganadi project has ever since become a bane for the people living downstream. It is not that there were no floods. The people of Assam for centuries have been living with the floods from the Brahmaputra and its tributaries and each time they are well prepared to receive the natural disaster.

But inundation by the Ranganadi is not a natural disaster since it is NEEPCO made. By design, if the Ranganadi flow is greater than 160 cubic metres per second, the surplus water is released into the river downstream to protect the dam. In the winter, the river flow is, more often than not, less than that. Therefore, no water is released into the Ranganadi at all, which results in a practically dead river. When the dam was constructed, the authorities claimed that it was a run-of-the-river projects. The run-of- the-river project uses the natural flow of the river and its elevation drop to generate electricity.

But the NEEPCO project has dammed the Ranganadai river and the water from the reservoir is carried through a ten km underground tunnel to river Dikrong where the turbines are situated. During summer, when the water volume increases resulting in flow of water into the reservoir beyond its capacity, water is released in the river to save the dam. The force of this water is too high than the natural force and Lakhimpur is flooded. That too without warning. This should be construed as an inhuman act. Of course there is a siren at the dam and whenever water is released it is sounded for 30 seconds but who can hear that sound hundred kms away from the site. A stone's throw away, Yazali in Lower Subansiri has also borne the consequences of such sudden release without any prior information catching locals off guard. 

The project was supposed to generate 1509 mega units of power annually but in reality it hardly produces ten mega units a day. Thus the project is not only a natural disaster but also an economic failure.

 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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