On the contrary to what statutory panels under the Environment Ministry recommend, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has paved a new way for the two mega hydel projects proposed in Arunachal Pradesh Dibang Valey and the Lohit districts which is one of India’s leading biodiverse landscapes.

This bold step made by the premier institute has come at such a time when a survey conducted for three years by WII made a report about the presence of tigers in the Dibang Valley, the part covered by the high-altitude forests.

The records reveals that one of the 3,097 MW Etalin hydel project is to be constructed under the joint effort of both Arunachal government and Jindal Power. The ministry also asked the WII to assess the applicability of the plan that will need 1,166 hectares of land which is part of the land occupied by the forest in the valley.

The move by the Ministry was in line with the recommendations made by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) which conducted an assessment on the impact the project has on the environment. Instead, the WII started a study to determine the effect the project has on wildlife and how the impact can be reduced. The institute is yet to deliver their final plan about the conservation measures which they have gathered.

In another case, WII was mandated by the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) to perform a hydrology or ecology study for the proposed 1,750 MW Lower Demwe hydel project in Lohit district. The Athena Demwe Power Limited (ADPL) was charged with the responsibility to conduct the study.

The records reveal that the last three meetings between WII and ADPL on the fate of the project permitted the construction of the dam about three months ago. They said that the construction can commence as long as the institute conducts a two-year study to decide on the extent of the dam. The Rs 1.85 crore study which was funded by the developer would also determine the peaking operations of the dam.

The WII director V B Mathur in his address to the Indian press said: “Both cases were accompanied with some defectiveness and our assistance was called for. As a result of time constraints, what we presented was our best. The final decision about the commencement of the project is made by the Ministry and the WII has no authority whatsoever to take part in any of them apart from just sharing its recommendations.”

Siddhanta Das who is the general director of forest under environmental Ministry stated it clearly that WII has no part to play in decision making. “All the protocols are in place. WII has nothing to do with decision making if it conducts research on behalf of a private company or client. It cannot take part in the decision-making process within the Ministry. If it makes an arrangement to meet with the developers on the behalf of the Ministry, then it will table the details before the Ministry to take an action.” He said.

Both Mathur and Das said that the recommendations by FAC and NBWL were not adhered to.

“It is upon the NBWL and the Committee in charge to identify such dilution in the meetings to come. However, there is a continuous change in the composition and a number of them are determined to take on the Ministry. You can’t deny WII clearance if it tables down its recommendations about the project.” A former NBWL member said.

As for the Etalin project, WII was requested by the Ministry to perform a survey on some of the commonly agreed terms and conditions after the FAC had conducted an assessment study about the impact of the project in one of the meetings held in February 2017.

“The minutes stated that FAC discovered the inadequacy of the impact assessment study and has resorted to other studies to make a final decision on the fate of the Etalin project. Neither conservation nor mitigation plan is included.” Said the director of Bombay Natural Society, Deepak Apte, who resigned from FAC just a week after their meeting.

However, the advert to hire more researchers for the same study in December 2017, the WII described this project which is to last nine months as a preparation for Wildlife Conservation Plan for the zones of impact for Etalin HEP.

We discovered that WII team installed Camera traps in the areas under the impact zones as part of their Etalin Dam Study in January to April. A WII researcher by the name G V Gopi conducted the tiger survey was also among the experts included in the dam site study. However, he denied the claims.

“Following the provisional draft of the WII’s conservation plan, there was a hope for a positive report,” said one of the Jindal Power officials on the unknown condition.

In the bordering Lohit District, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has allocated the green clearance for the project on October 2017 with a committee of three professionals recommending a detailed peer-reviewed study of the impact on the hydrology and ecology. However, the WII was asked by the Ministry to hand in its report in less than three months and the instituted performed a hurried survey which only took 20 days.

“If the WII will need two years to reveal the peaking limits of the dam, then why is it commissioning the dam construction as early as today?” Bimal Gogoi, a conservationist who kicked out the project before NGT, said.

Records also reveal that the ADPL was summoned by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal following the failure to pay the Indian Bank a loan totalling to Rs 334 crore. By September 2017, the Tribunal commenced corporate bankruptcy resolution minutes in the case.