Key Highlights
- In January 2026 the Ministry of Environment’s Expert Appraisal Committee granted an 11‑year extension of the Demwe Lower hydropower project’s environmental clearance, now valid through 2037.
- The extension is justified by the Committee on the basis that prolonged court battles should not count as “time elapsed” under a 2025 Office Memorandum.
- A 2017 National Green Tribunal order that annulled the project's wildlife clearance resurfaces as a legal obstacle, despite a 2018 reinstatement by the National Board for Wildlife.
- The 162‑meter concrete gravity dam will inundate roughly 1,590 ha of forest, threatening the habitat of the critically endangered White‑Belly Heron in the Lohit basin and raising concerns for the adjacent Kamlang Tiger Reserve and Parshuram Kund pilgrimage site.
- Critics argue that no fresh ecological baseline study was commissioned, ignoring possible environmental changes over the 16‑year lapse since the original clearance.
Detailed Insights
The Demwe Lower project, slated for a capacity of 1,750 MW on the Lohit River, originally secured environmental approval in February 2010 with a ten‑year validity that expired in 2020. Subsequent policy relaxations and an extended litigation timeline—spanning the National Company Law Tribunal and the National Green Tribunal—prompted the developer, Greenko Demwe Power Ltd., to invoke the 2025 Office Memorandum that treats litigative delays as a “zero period.” Consequently, the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) refreshed the clearance without requiring a de novo appraisal, extending its term to 2037.
Nevertheless, the 2017 NGT verdict, which struck down the project's wildlife clearance and mandated a fresh appraisal by the National Board for Wildlife, remains unresolved in practical terms. While the NBWL re‑issued wildlife clearance in 2018, the legal ambiguity of counting litigative time as null has drawn criticism from environmental NGOs and legal scholars, who contend that the original wildlife clearance was effectively nullified.
Ecologically, the dam’s reservoir will submerge nearly 1,590 ha of forest land and divert 1,416 ha for construction, encroaching on the Lohit basin’s biodiversity hotspot. The area supports the White‑Belly Heron (Ardea insignis), a species listed as Critically Endangered, and lies upstream of the sacred Parshuram Kund, heightening cultural as well as ecological stakes. The absence of an updated baseline impact assessment—mandatory under most contemporary environmental statutes—amplifies the risk of overlooking habitat degradation, altered river flow regimes, and cumulative impacts on the Kamlang Tiger Reserve.
Key Concepts
- Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC): A high‑level panel under the Ministry of Environment that reviews and authorises environmental clearances for large‑scale projects.
- Zero‑Period Rule (2025 Office Memorandum): An administrative provision that excludes periods of legal dispute from counting toward the expiry of an existing environmental clearance.
- National Green Tribunal (NGT): A specialized judicial body in India tasked with adjudicating environmental disputes, including the revocation or modification of clearances.
- Wildlife Clearance: A statutory permission granted after assessment of impacts on fauna, required in addition to forest clearance for projects affecting wildlife habitats.
- Baseline Biodiversity Study: An initial scientific survey establishing the pre‑project status of ecosystems, essential for measuring subsequent environmental changes.