Hindustan Times (Lucknow)

SPOTLIGHT FALLS ON RISKS POSED BY POWER PROJECTS

- Jayashree Nandi letters@hindustant­imes.com

NEW DELHI: Although the Supreme Court took suo motu (on its own motion) cognizance of the 2013 Kedarnath cloudburst and flooding that killed over 5,000 people and an expert committee warned as early as in 2014 that hydroelect­ric projects could pose a disaster risk to the state, Uttarakhan­d is still pursuing the constructi­on of hydroelect­ric projects and dams.

This is obvious from an affidavit filed in the SC by the Uttarakhan­d government on August 28, 2020 in response to an appeal by developers of a hydroelect­ric project on the Alaknanda river to resume operations following a stay imposed on all hydroelect­ric projects in the state.

The affidavit, seen by HT, says: “…the Uttarakhan­d government has been facing acute power shortage in recent times and has been forced to purchase electricit­y amounting to ₹1,000 crore annually, casting an additional burden on the finances of the hilly state...”

The Uttarakhan­d government and the Union environmen­t ministry still don’t have a policy on such projects.

The SC, in a 2013 order, ruled no new hydroelect­rical power projects should be set up in the state. In all, 69 projects were envisaged, and 24 were granted environmen­tal clearance. The SC sought a scientific assessment of the cumulative impact of hydropower plants in the state.

Following the SC order, a committee headed by Ravi Chopra, director of the People’s Science Institute, submitted a detailed report which warned that a glacial retreat in the state, coupled with structures built for hydroelect­ricity generation and dams, could lead to large-scale disasters downstream.

The Union environmen­t ministry, in its December 17, 2014 affidavit, also took note of the findings of the Chopra committee report. The affidavit, seen by HT, acknowledg­ed that upper reaches of the state above 2,200 metres were extremely prone to landslides and were located in seismic zones.

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