21st January 2014
To
Chairman and Member Secretary,
Arunachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board
Paryavaran Bhawan, Yupia Road
Pappu Hills, Naharlagun
E-mail id – arunachalspcb@gmail.com
Sub: Lower Siang HEP (2700 MW) EIA-EMP Report not fully available on APSPCB website; many links not working; Public hearing will be illegal without full EIA-EMP in public domain
Respected Sir,
This is regarding the EIA-EMP report of Lower Siang HEP (2700 MW) uploaded on APSPCB website. The public hearing for the Lower Siang HEP is schedule to be held on 31st January 2014.
As per the EIA notification of 2006 the full and complete EIA and EMP report should be made available on State Pollution Control Board website, in this case your website at least 30 days in advance of public hearing date as this is necessary not only for the affected people but also for wider consultations for concerned individuals and groups, as required under the EIA Notification. However, full EIA-EMP are not available on your website, with at least three chapters of EIA, one chapter of EMP and several annexures not opening, even ten days before the public hearing date.
It is very surprising and confusing to most people to see that the reports have been uploaded in 145 parts totaling 320 MB file size. These documents should have been uploaded as five reports as done for EIA-EMP report of several other projects. However, we have gone through all the files available on APSPCB website and based on perusal of these files, we find that crucial parts of the statutorily required documents are not available on APSPCB website. The list of missing chapters and annexures with the name of the report is given below. A screenshot of the links to these chapters are also attached and annexure as mentioned below.
| No | Chapter/Figure | Report | Status | Attached |
| 1 | Chapter 2 – CONCEPT & METHODOLOGY | EIA | Failed to upload | Annexure 1 |
| 2 | Chapter 10 – AQUATIC ECOLOGY FISH & FISHERIES | EIA | An incomplete, possibly irrelevant table on a 1-page | Annexure 2 |
| 3 | Chapter 12 – CONSTRUCTION METHODOLOGY | EIA | Failed to upload | Annexure 3 |
| 4 | Chapter 10 - REHABILITATION & RESETTLEMENT PLAN | EMP | Failed to upload | Annexure 4 |
| 5 | Fig 3.3 – Gradient profile of Siang river including its major and minor tributaries of the Siang river catchment | EIA | Not uploaded | |
| 6 | Fig 3.4 – Gradient profile of the Siang river with its main tributaries in the Siang river catchment area | EIA | Not uploaded | |
| 7 | Fig 7.3 – Land use/ land cover map of the submergence area of the proposed Lower Siang H.E. project | EIA | Failed to upload | Annexure 5 |
| 8 | Fig. 2.3 – Drainage map of the free-draining catchment area of the proposed Lower Siang H.E. project | EMP | Not uploaded | |
| 9 | Fig 7.3 & 7.4 – Cross-section at the proposed dumping site | EMP | Incomplete, failed to upload | Annexure 6 |
We therefore request you to upload these chapters immediately and also upload smaller size single documents of each report for the perusal of the local people and all concerned. In the meanwhile, since non availability of full EIA-EMP on pollution control website a month before the public hearing is a statutory violation, we request you to cancel the public hearing now slated for Jan 31st, 2014 as holding a public hearing without full EIA-EMP on the APSPCB website a month before the PH will not be legally tenable.
Thanking you, we will look for your early response,
Yours Sincerely
Parag Jyoti Saikia
South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People (SANDRP), 86-D, AD Block, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi – 110 088
Tel: 91-11- 2748 4654/55; http://sandrp.wordpress.com/, http://sandrp.in/
