'Indigenous people not consulted on dams'

GUWAHATI: In a significant observation, the United Nations' Human Right Council has said indigenous communities in Assam were not consulted before starting construction of large dams.
The latest report compiled by Margaret Sekaggya, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, said when people of indigenous communities stand against large dams on the ground of human rights and environmental consequences, the authorities brand them as "anti-government" activists.The compilation of the report was made following the special rapporteur's visit from January 10 to 21 in India to assess the current situation of human rights defenders in the country. "In Assam, people who criticized the mconstruction of mega-dams were branded anti-government activists. This is the same rhetoric used under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. Defenders live in constant fear," the report stated. This report will be placed before the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva on March 5 this year. Even though the report did not mention anything on the location of large dams, the remark by the special rapporteur is a significant one at a time when Assam has been facing a series of protests against hydro-electric projects coming up in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh.
The anti-dam activists say that downstream Assam would bear the maximum brunt of the hydro projects in Arunachal.