Guwahati: Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia has demanded a special session of the Assam Assembly to discuss impacts of the 2,000MW Lower Subansiri hydel power project amid the grim flood situation in the state. The security of women, after the death of Nandita Saikia, a meritorious student from Moridhal College in Dhemaji, in a machete attack, is also on his agenda.
Saikia said three districts in north Assam are on the verge of destruction because of the government’s mistakes. “Now, the water is flowing above the 115-metre dam in the Lower Subansiri hydro project, posing a big threat to the districts of Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Majuli districts. An experts’ committee had warned against building the dam at the present site in 2010 as the hill is composed of soft soil and poses a big threat to downstream areas of Assam which is located in an earthquake-prone region,” he said. Saikia lamented that the government did not heed the warning and the present BJP-led government completed 75 per cent of the work, ignoring the protests by individuals and organisations in the state.
When the mass movement gained momentum against the Lower Subansiri project, a big dam, during the tenure of the Tarun Gogoi government in 2010, a committee was formed and tasked with submitting a report on the destructive effect of the project on the Brahmaputra and other rivers. “The committee had recommended following the CD Thate and Reddy committees, with the observation that a big dam should not be constructed on the proposed site. The Sarbananda Sonowal government, however, signed a pact with NHPC in 2019 without implementing the recommendations of the bipartite agreement of 2014, which goes against Assam and leads to less electricity for the state,” said Saikia.
Protests have resumed in upper Assam districts of Dhemaji and Lakhimpur where nearly 100 villages (in Lakhimpur district) have been inundated by floods caused by Subansiri river.
On women’s safety, he alleged that women in the state are not feeling secure during the rule of the BJP government. “A girl student in Dhemaji was attacked with a machete, leading to her death, in broad daylight. Crimes against women have increased exponentially in the last five years,” he said.
