Summary
The Environment Ministry's Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) has recommended environmental clearance for NHPC's 1,605 MW Subansiri Upper Hydroelectric Project in Arunachal Pradesh, while expressing concern over the "substantial" felling of trees.
The project needs 2,733 hectares of forest land and the felling of about 1,35,733 trees. The final clearance depends on Stage-1 forest clearance, the Centre's in-principle approval under forest law. Because Arunachal has high forest cover, compensatory afforestation (planting to offset the forest lost) is proposed on about 5,466 hectares of degraded forest land across 14 districts of Madhya Pradesh.
Until February 2026, Arunachal had not met the compensatory afforestation conditions for NHPC's downstream Subansiri Lower project, despite six reminders.
WHY IN NEWS FOR UPSC & STATE PCS
The minutes of the EAC meeting show the recommendation for environmental clearance, the concern about impacts on habitat and wildlife movement and the advice to NHPC to prepare a site-specific, time-bound Ecosystem Restoration and Biodiversity Management Plan. The committee also assessed scenarios of glacial lake outburst floods and dam breach affecting the downstream Subansiri Lower project.
Standard News
The Law Requires Twice the Area, Not the Same Forest
Forest law sets a clear rule. When forest land is diverted for a project, an equal area of non-forest land must be afforested. If that is not available, twice the area must be planted on degraded forest land. For the Subansiri Upper project, that works out neatly: 2,733 hectares lost in Arunachal Pradesh and 5,466 hectares to be planted in Madhya Pradesh.
On paper, the requirement is met, with area to spare. The problem is that the rule measures area, while what is lost is a working ecosystem.
Where the Compensation Falls Short Look at
what the Environment Ministry's own expert committee said. Its minutes note that felling about 1,35,733 trees could affect forest structure, habitat continuity, biodiversity, wildlife movement and ecosystem services.
Every item on that list depends on location. A wildlife corridor in the Subansiri basin cannot be recreated on degraded land in central India. Carbon storage can partly be offset elsewhere. Habitat continuity cannot. The inter-state provision explains how this happens.
Because Arunachal's forest cover exceeds 75%, Ministry guidelines let it meet its obligation in a State with less forest. The logic makes sense for counting forest cover nationally: plant where there is room. But it separates the loss from the compensation in three ways:
- Place: the plantations will be more than 1,500 km away, in a different river system.
- Kind of forest: plantations on degraded land are unlikely to recreate the Himalayan forest that is lost.
- Time: the trees are felled immediately, while the plantations take decades to mature, if they survive. The EAC's advice to NHPC to prepare a site-specific Ecosystem Restoration and Biodiversity Management Plan is an admission of this gap. The committee knows that planting in Madhya Pradesh does nothing for the Subansiri valley.
The Compliance Record
The second weak point is follow-through. The obligation was set; what has actually been done? For NHPC's own Subansiri Lower project downstream, Arunachal had not met its compensatory afforestation conditions as of February 2026 and the Environment Ministry had sent six reminders.
This is not an unclear or disputed failure. It is a missed legal condition on a neighbouring project run by the same developer.
What Deserves Credit
The appraisal was not careless. The EAC assessed risks from glacial lake outburst floods and scenarios of dam breach for the downstream project. It explicitly flagged the ecological concerns and it made final clearance depend on Stage-1 forest approval. The Supreme Court's 2009 direction that upstream proposals be judged on their own merits was also respected.
For the exam: judge compensatory afforestation by whether it replaces what was lost, not just by the area planted. The weak points in the chain are clear: a design that separates loss from compensation and monitoring that has let a previous project's obligations go unmet.
Quick Facts
Key numbers & takeaways — revise these first
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The Subansiri is a major tributary of the Brahmaputra.
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The Subansiri Upper Hydroelectric Project has a planned capacity of 1,605 MW, near Menga in Arunachal Pradesh, with a 237-metre-high dam.
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Its two stated objectives are power generation and flood moderation.
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The project needs 2,733 hectares of forest land and the felling of about 1,35,733 trees.
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Compensatory afforestation of about 5,466 hectares is proposed on degraded forest land across 14 districts of Madhya Pradesh.
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Under Environment Ministry guidelines, States with more than 75% forest cover may carry out compensatory afforestation in States with lower forest cover.
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Where no equivalent non-forest land is available, plantation over twice the diverted area must be raised on degraded forest land.
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The project is being developed by NHPC (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation).
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In August 2009, the Supreme Court modified a National Board for Wildlife condition that had ruled out projects upstream of Subansiri Lower.
Connect the dots for your UPSC preparation.
Standard news covers the event. Log in to read our comprehensive analysis and uncover the hidden constitutional, structural, and ethical dimensions of this topic:
Why the twice-the-area rule counts hectares but cannot replace habitat continuity or wildlife corridors in the Subansiri basin.
A diagnosis of the two weak points in the chain: an offset designed to be inter-state and poor enforcement shown by Subansiri Lower's six ignored reminders.
A balanced look at what the EAC got right, from flood-risk assessment to its demand for a site-specific restoration plan.
A roadmap to make compensatory afforestation replace ecosystems rather than area, from offsets within the same basin to requiring compliance before new clearances.
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