Table of Contents
UPSC PRELIMS MCQ
In which state is the Dibru Saikhowa National Park located?
- Assam
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Nagaland
- Mizoram
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
The controversial 1750 MW Lower Demwe hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh, which had been cleared by Congress led UPA’s environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan and then later struck down by National Green Tribunal, has got an all-clear from the government.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
- Demwe HEP is part of Arunachal Pradesh’s Lohit river cascade development scheme. Lohit is one of the major tributaries of the mighty Brahmaputra that flows through India’s verdant North-East region.
- The Run-of-the-River Demwe Hydro Electric Power Project is being developed in two stages with a generation capacity of 1,750 MW (Demwe Lower) and 1,080 MW (Demwe Upper) respectively.
NOTES
The standing committee of National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), the apex wildlife protection body chaired by environment minister Harsh Vardhan, has given a go ahead to the controversial project , which environmental activists have long feared would completely alter the habitat of river water dolphins in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh.
PROBLEMS
- The project’s 124-metre high dam is proposed to be constructed on river Lohit jointly by Athena Energy Ventures and the Arunachal Pradesh government.
- The project site, greens and local activists say, is extremely close to cultural heritage site Parshuram Kund, a major Hindu pilgrimage.
PARSHURAM KUND
- Born as a brahmin, Parshuram carried traits of a Kshatriya and is often regarded as a Brahmin-Kshatriya.
- He carried a number of Kshatriya traits, which included aggression, warfare and valor. • Lord Parashuram the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu
PARSHURAM KUND, A MAJOR HINDU PILGRIMAGE
- Dedicated to sage Parshuram, the popular site attracts pilgrims from Nepal, from across India, and from nearby states of Manipur and Assam.
- Over 70,000 devotees and sadhus take a holy dip in its water each year on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, in the month of January
STORY BEHIND IT
- It is believed that Lord Parashuram the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu ,on the orders of his father Rishi Jamadagni(see the article on Parashuram) ,beheaded his mother Renuka with his axe. Since he had committed one of the worst crimes of killing one’s mother, the axe got stuck to his hand. His father pleased with his obedience decided to give him a boon to which he asked for his mother to be restored back to life.
- Even after his mother was brought back to life the axe could not be removed from his hand. This was a reminder of the heinous crime he had committed. He repented for his crime and on taking the advice of eminent rishis of that time, he arrived at the banks of Lohit River to wash his hands in its pure waters. It was a way to cleanse him of all the sins. As as soon as he dipped his hands into the waters the axe immediately got detached and since then the site where he washed his hands became a place of worship and came to be known by sadhus as Parashuram Kund.
PROBLEM
- The Demwe Lower project is just 8.5 kilometres from KamlangWildlife Sanctuary.
- Environmentalists have also expressed concerns over how the massive power generation plant will impact water flow in the Lohit river, seriously jeopardising the habitat of the Gangetic river dolphin up to 100 kilometres downstream from the project site.
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