In the Dibang valley, in Arunachal Pradesh, the Indian government has been planning to set up the Etalin Hydropower Project over two rivers, the Dri and the Tangon, situated inside the Dibang catchment zone.

For the project, close to three lakh trees are expected to be felled to make way for the dam, and the project site is home to several species of wildlife some of which are close to being extinct.

The dam will result in higher seismic activity resulting in earthquakes and higher erosion resulting in landslides.

Due to Global warming, one cannot predict the amount of glacier melts in the coming years so the dam may not be viable at all in the future.

The dam will also affect the lives of Ido Mishmi, the tribal community of Dibang Valley who have been coexisting with the forest for centuries. They will be displaced and their lives drastically altered. Not to mention, they will be denied the right to access their primary site of pilgrimage, Athu Popu, just north of the project site.

Indian Government is planning to develop 169 dams in Arunachal Pradesh which will wreck the biodiversity and unique cultures within the state.

On this Environmental Day, as Indian citizens, we have to raise our voice against such developments that will put even more of a strain on the already crumbling ecosystem. Storms, earthquakes, cyclones, floods and droughts are becoming common every year. If we dont take a stand now, we may not have a future to utilise the “developments” we are focusing on NOW.