The excess water from the Ranganadi river, on which the dam is being built in Arunachal Pradesh, is expected to submerge Bihpuria, which has a population of about 20,000, and its adjoining villages in Lakhimpur district of Assam by flooding the Dikrong river also flowing through the area.

``On completion of the project excess water from the Ranganadi river will be released into the Dikrong river raising its level by four feet causing floods in Bihpuria and neighbouring villages,'' Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said.

Mahanta, who raised the issue in the just-concluded North-Eastern Council (NEC) annual meeting in Shillong, said his government had already brought it to the notice of the North-Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) which is undertaking the project.

The flood controldepartment of the Assam Government also submitted a proposal to the NEC to construct a vast network of embankments to divert the excess water flowing into the Dikrong river.

According to an official of the flood control department, the Rs 836 lakh scheme would save Bihpuria and its adjoining villages from floods.

If work on the scheme does not start immediately there is no other alternative but to evacuate the people, he added. A NEEPCO official said evacuating people is bound to push up the commissioning of the much-delayed project. About 75 per cent of work on the project has already been completed.