A conservation report on the Lohit river basin in Arunachal Pradesh warns that a proposed 1,200-MW hydropower project could push India’s white-bellied heron toward local extinction. The issue is not only one of species protection; it also raises a larger UPSC-relevant question about whether project-level environmental appraisal can capture the ecological value of a connected river-basin habitat.
What the conservation report says
The conservation report says the white-bellied heron is extremely elusive and depends on healthy, fast-flowing rivers with mature riparian forests. It says only a very small number of the birds survive in India and that a majority of the known Indian presence is associated with the Lohit basin.
The conservation report also says the Forest Advisory Committee has granted in-principle clearance to the hydropower project. The environmental impact assessment is alleged to have omitted the white-bellied heron.
Why the project is controversial
According to conservation concerns cited in the news report, dam construction can change river flow and turbidity, submerge or degrade mature riparian forest, and disrupt shallow-water fish foraging. These are directly relevant because the white-bellied heron depends on riverine conditions for breeding, roosting, and feeding.
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