NE students-led tweet storm to protect region’s pristine forests trends #1 in all India trends
Itanagar- A nationwide tweet storm organised by college and university students’ organizations from North East India under the banner ‘Northeast Solidarity for Environmental Justice’ (NSEJ) and supported by citizens from different parts of the nation on Sunday, trended at number 1 in all India trends and across most cities in the country.
Citizens across the length and breadth of India irrespective of their caste, colour, creed or religion were unified in their demand from the Indian government to #SaveDibangValley #SaveDehingPatkai, and #SaveAmazonOfEast.
The NSEJ also issued a joint statement against exploitation of forests, land, and resources in Northeast States demanding immediate reversal of extractive projects in Dehing Patkai, Dibang Valley, and Dibru Saikhowa.
Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh and Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve in Assam are recognised as one of the most bio-diverse rich forest habitats not just in India but globally as well. They are home to some of the rarest and endangered flora and fauna which will be lost forever with the nod given by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) for clearing more than 6,00,000 old growth trees in Dibang valley for two environmentally destructive hydro power projects (Etalin and Dibang MultiPurpose projects) and by the National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself for coal mining in 98.59 hectares in Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve. Sub tropical forests like these are complex ecosystems with species that have evolved over millions of years. Once cut, they will be lost forever.
In their tweets, citizens tagged the Prime Minister of India, the Environment Minister, MOEFCC and the Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam and asked them for whose benefit are these ecologically unsustainable and destructive hydro power projects in Arunachal Pradesh and coal mining project in Dehing Patkai being pushed for in a power surplus nation like India which has an installed capacity of 369000 MW against its peak demand of 183804 MW?
Citizens along with scientists and conservationists across India demanded that permission given for these ecologically and culturally destructive projects in India’s mega biodiversity hotspots be withdrawn by the government. The mesmerising Dibang Valley and Dehing Patkai along with its indigenous people, rare wildlife and pristine forests need to be preserved for the generations to come.
