The Hindu Business Line : NHPC to take cue from China

Rehab first
"NHPC is looking at having a development-first model for some of the larger stations planned in the future, as is being followed in China and other countries executing larger dam projects. "

New Delhi , April 27

National Hydroelectric Power Corporation — the country's largest hydropower company — is planning to take lessons from China.

The State-owned hydropower major is attempting to turn the ongoing relocation debate on its head by proposing to resettle people affected by its larger projects before actual construction work commences, in line with the Chinese rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) policy.

Rehabilitation

NHPC is planning the `rehabilitation first' model for its larger projects starting with the proposed Upper Siang station in Arunachal Pradesh.

"NHPC is looking at having a development-first model for some of the larger stations planned in the future, as is being followed in China and other countries executing larger dam projects. Rehabilitation and resettlement issues are among the biggest concerns facing hydroelectric projects today and progress on harnessing the country's vast potential would be stunted unless the concerns are sorted out successfully," a Government official involved in the exercise said.

The utility also plans to make the resettlement process for future projects more inclusive by involving the displaced people, as also eminent environmentalists and sociologists, in the planning process for new habitations.

Resettlement

China, for instance, has started treating resettlement of people displaced due to dam construction as a development opportunity, as in case of the gigantic `Three Gorges' project. Of the estimated project cost of around Rs 80,000 crore incurred on building the world's largest hydroelectric project, it is estimated that the Chinese administration spent around 30 per cent of the project cost on rehabilitation and resettlement of people displaced along the Yangtze valley in new townships built outside the catchment area of the project.

The entire R&R exercise is supervised by the National Research Centre on Resettlement set up by the Chinese administration at Nanjing in 1990, which advise on any resettlement happening in the country on account of the construction of large hydro projects.