Guwahati: A Union government-appointed committee has approved the diversion of 442 hectares of forest land for a 1,500 MW closed-loop pumped storage project in Assam, which is estimated to cost Rs 7,273.23 crore.
The project, proposed at Lipgaon village in the Diphu subdivision of East Karbi Anglong district, shares its boundary with an elephant reserve and will submerge 352 hectares, affecting more than 1,100 residents in the region.
The project, being developed by Assam Power Distribution Company Limited, involves constructing upper and lower reservoirs, water conductor systems, pipelines, and access roads. While labour camps and muck dumping sites are planned on non-forest land.
A total of 23,726 trees have been recorded in the area, of which 21,767 are expected to be felled. The forest is home to diverse wildlife, including leopards, barking deer, porcupines, slow lorises, hoolock gibbons, serows, rhesus macaques, flying squirrels, king cobras, and pythons.
The project will affect nine families across five villages, with 89 families identified as project-affected. A detailed Rehabilitation and Resettlement plan is yet to be submitted. The area also supports shifting cultivation (jhum) and local communities heavily depend on forest resources for their livelihoods.
The Environmental Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change highlighted the ecological sensitivity of the site. Both reservoirs are located near non-perennial streams and elephant corridors, raising concerns about biodiversity impacts, habitat fragmentation, and disruption to ecosystem services.
The nearest protected area, Marat Longri Wildlife Sanctuary, is 10.5 kilometres away, while the Kaziranga Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve lies just 1.4 kilometres from the project boundary.
The EAC noted that although the reservoirs are intended as a closed-loop system, the lower dam lies in the catchment of a small rain-fed stream, which dries up for six months annually, effectively categorising it as an open-loop system.
The committee recommended that project proponents prepare plans to maintain natural streams and minimise ecological disturbance.
Local student bodies, organisations, and political leaders have raised objections over large-scale forest diversion, displacement of indigenous communities, and threats to wildlife. Memoranda submitted to the central and the state government urged relocation or cancellation of the project in ecologically sensitive areas.
Despite these concerns, the Forest Advisory Committee cleared the project in principle during its January 22, 2026 meeting.
The approval is part of a larger plan to add 2,400 MW of power capacity in East Karbi Anglong, requiring over 521 hectares of forest land, which has drawn criticism over potential environmental and social impacts in the hill district.