Centre to assess green nod for Etalin dam in Arunachal, days after China breaks ground on world's largest hydel project

Indian Express

6 days ago

An expert panel of the Union environment ministry is slated to consider next week environmental clearance for the 3,087-MW Etalin hydel project in Dibang valley, Arunachal Pradesh, days after China officially kick-started work on the world's largest hydroelectric project (of 60 gigawatt) on the Yarlung Zangbo river upstream of India.
The ministry on June 20 granted in-principle approval for the diversion of 1,175 hectares of prime forest land in Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh, for the Etalin project. The forest area is classified as subtropical pine forest, wet evergreen, semi-evergreen, montane wet temperate, and moist alpine scrub. The area is also home to wide-ranging biodiversity of wildlife and plants. The forest area to be used is largely community-owned, and 2.7 lakh trees will be axed.
Etalin has been proposed as a run-of-the-river project on the Dri and Talo rivers, involving the construction of concrete gravity dams to divert water through two separate waterway systems. A run-of-the-river project involves negligible or no water storage.
The Dri and Talo rivers are tributaries of the Dibang river, which feeds into Brahmaputra's waters. China's project has raised concerns that it will affect the water regime and security in the Brahmaputra basin downstream.
The Central Electricity Authority has concurred on 13 hydroelectric projects in Arunachal Pradesh, with a total planned installed capacity of 13,798 MW, as per the Union power ministry's reply to the Lok Sabha on April 3. Besides, the Subansiri Lower, Dibang multipurpose, and Lower Kopli (Assam) projects are under construction, totalling a planned capacity of 5,000 MW.
The project developer, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Ltd, has placed the project proposal for clearance before the environment ministry's expert appraisal committee (EAC) on river valley and hydroelectric sector. The EAC recommended the project for environmental clearance in 2017.
However, since the in-principle forest clearance was received only last month, the committee will appraise the project again. This is based on clarifications issued by the ministry in three office memorandums regarding the process to be followed if forest clearance is given over three years after a proposal was initially recommended for environmental clearance.
The ministry's office memorandums state that if the data collected for the preparation of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report is over three years old, the proposal has to be referred back to the EAC for a relook.
An EIA report is a detailed pre-clearance study that assesses a project's impact on environmental, wildlife, ecology and communities likely to be impacted. The Etalin project's EIA report dates back to 2015.
'In such a situation, the EAC may get fresh data collected and, based on that and after due diligence, either reiterate its earlier recommendations or decide to reappraise the project proposal on valid grounds, as the case may be,' as per three previous office memorandums of the environment ministry. As far as a fresh public hearing is concerned, the ministry's expert panel can ask for a fresh one to be conducted as well as seek additional documents and information. In 2022, the environment ministry's forest advisory committee rejected forest approval for the Etalin project and asked for a fresh proposal on account of wildlife and biodiversity concerns.
'18 villages and 216 households to be affected'
SJVN has submitted baseline data from December 2024 for the winter season and April 2025 for the pre-monsoon period, documents submitted to the ministry show. 'To ensure that outdated baseline data does not hinder the EAC in reiterating its recommendation, fresh baseline data has been collected for two seasons and compared with the data collected in 2012,' the company said in documents filed with the ministry.
SJVN has submitted an addendum to the 2015 EIA report and environment management plan for the committee's consideration. Eighteen villages and 216 households will be affected due to land acquisition for the project, as per this new submission.
If approved, the Etalin project will be the largest run-of-the-river hydroelectric project in India. Even though the Upper Siang storage-based hydel project will be more massive, with a proposed capacity of 10,000 MW, it is yet to take off with a pre-feasibility report under preparation amid strong local protests on displacement concerns.
An award-winning journalist with 14 years of experience, Nikhil Ghanekar is an Assistant Editor with the National Bureau [Government] of The Indian Express in New Delhi. He primarily covers environmental policy matters which involve tracking key decisions and inner workings of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. He also covers the functioning of the National Green Tribunal and writes on the impact of environmental policies on wildlife conservation, forestry issues and climate change.
Nikhil joined The Indian Express in 2024. Originally from Mumbai, he has worked in publications such as Tehelka, Hindustan Times, DNA Newspaper, News18 and Indiaspend. In the past 14 years, he has written on a range of subjects such as sports, current affairs, civic issues, city centric environment news, central government policies and politics. ... Read More