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Arunachal Pradesh Mega Dam Controversy Demwe Hydroelectric Project

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 river is entering India from China.

Lohit is one of the major tributaries of the mighty Brahmaputra that flows through India’s verdant North-East region.

It is 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-meter 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

•On the orders of his father Rishi Jamadagni, 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 soon as he dipped his hands into the waters the ax 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.

UPSC PRELIMS MCQ

In which state is the Dibru Saikhowa National

Park located?

A. Assam

B. Arunachal Pradesh

C. Nagaland

D. Mizoram

ANSWER – A. Assam