Govt scraps two power projects on Bhagirathi
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COMMENTS 
Environmentalists are hoping that the government’s decision to shut down two, and possibly a third, hydel projects on the Bhagirathi river signals a new realisation of the harm such projects can do
The central government has decided not to proceed with two hydroelectric projects in Uttarakhand, on the river Bhagirathi -- the 381 MW Bhaironghati plant and the 480 MW Pala-Maneri plant.
Environmentalists see this as a positive step, signalling a rethink on the part of the government on big dams and their impact on the environment.
The move to shelve the projects can be attributed as much to environmental concerns as to religious ones, given the large Hindu vote bank in the Gangetic belt. The Bhagirathi, a tributary of the Ganga, is regarded as sacred and calls to allow its waters to flow unobstructed have come from a number of religious groups.
The decision was taken by a three-member group set up by the prime minister who chairs the National Ganga River Basin Authority. The group comprises Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh.
The entire 55 km stretch of the river from Gaumukh, where it originates, to Loharinag-Pala, is expected to be turned into a no-dam zone.
The ongoing 600 MW Loharinag-Pala project could also be shut down. The project, on which Rs 600 crore has already been spent, will be assessed by a committee of experts, and if they decide that work on it must stop, the no-dam zone will extend to 155 km.
In 2009, the environment minister ordered an assessment of all planned hydroelectric projects on the Teesta, a river that is crucial to the state of Sikkim just as the Bhagirathi is to Uttarakhand. According to the minister, other river basin projects too will be assessed.
Big dams have been enthusiastically built all over the country for irrigation and to generate power. Over the years, though, the environmental damage and displacement of people caused by these dams has increasingly been seen as outweighing the advantages. Environmentalists have long argued that smaller dams and community water projects offer better alternatives.
Only recently, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) criticised the controversial Narmada project in Gujarat for not fulfilling its objective. Some Rs 18,515,58 crore has been investment in a network of canals that have remained “largely unfruitful”. Only 18.64% of cultivable command area has been developed and only 6.56% of it utilised, the CAG said.
Although the government has announced the shutting down of the Bhagirathi projects, it has not indicated an alternative means of providing water and power. Nor has it mentioned the huge waste of public money that abandoning the projects entails.
At a press conference on March 31, Ramesh did say that the government would be more cautious in future in granting approval to projects that could damage the environment. “We have been liberal in the past and no longer can afford to be. I am trying to increase the rejection rate,” he said. There are about 99 projects seeking environmental clearance as of year-ended March 31.
Source: Hindu Business Line, April 1, 2010
Zee News, March 31, 2010
PTI, March 31, 2010