Etalin Hydro Power Project:
Wildlife scientists and conservationists in Arunachal Pradesh flagged threats to local biodiversity from the proposed Etalin hydroelectric (3,097 MW) project in Dibang Valley.
- To raise the issue,they approached the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
- WildLIfe Institute of India (WII) and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) have suggested taking cognizance of certain safeguards and mitigation measures while considering project approval.
- FAC ordered the formation of a four-member committee to address apprehensions concerning wildlife as well as endemic flora and fauna of the area in a holistic manner.
- The Project is based on the river Dibang and is proposed to be completed in 7 years.
- Dibang is a tributary of the Brahmaputra River which flows through the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
- It envisages construction of two dams over the tributaries of Dibang: Dir and Tangon.
- The Project falls under the richest bio-geographical province of the Himalayan zone and would be located at the junction of major biogeographic zones like Palearctic Zone and Indo-Malayan Zone.
- It is expected to be one of the biggest hydropower projects in India in terms of installed capacity.
