The people are not against dams. But the Government has been carried away by the assessments of self-styled environmentalists.
As a source of water, Himalayan Rivers, especially the Ganga, have been crucial for many human settlements.
The stretch of the Ganga beyond Rishikesh fulfils the demands of many industries, including irrigation and transport.
Economic activities, including its use as natural sewers, have placed a heavy burden on this river, but much of it has happened outside Uttarakhand.
Development in Uttarakhand, especially in its mountainous regions, is restricted. Presently, only two sectors — tourism and hydropower — have the potential to improve the economic condition of this mountainous region.
In these hills, hydropower projects are the only means by which the unused water can be used to uplift the economic status of the people. Run-of-the-river hydropower projects will not withhold the water and the question of discontinuity of water flow does not arise.
Hydropower is more environment-friendly, compared with the other uses to which the river is put.
Primary stakeholders, like the hill people living in the Ganga basin, must have the same opportunities as the downstream people to use the river water for their economic development.
HYDEL PROJECTS WELCOMED
Hydropower projects are almost always welcomed by the local people. The resistance expressed by the people is not against hydropower projects, but is aimed at securing their rights in terms of livelihood and proper compensation. Self-styled environmentalists who cry for saving the Ganga neither have the scientific background nor an understanding of the socio-economic conditions of the hill people, to make a critical assessment of hydel projects.
The Central Government went overboard and intervened in developmental projects like hydropower on the insistence of such people and organisations.
MISLEADING REPORT
A very recent example of this is the Cumulative Environmental Impact Assessment (CEIA) study awarded by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, to Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, and Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun.
A quick and unscientific approach to CEIA by a reputed institute like WII has already started misleading decision-makers.
The interim report of WII — full of mistakes and written with little scientific facts — was the basis of MoEF's decision to stop three major projects and permit two others.
The final report of WII changed the entire approach of evaluation and is totally different from interim report. In fact, the final report hides the mistakes that were made in the interim report.
The team members of the study did not make any effort to understand the designs of various projects, before actually studying their impact.
We feel this report should not be used for verifying facts or making any policy decision.
Such misleading reports may further strengthen vested interests that are already active in stalling hydropower development in the state.
(The authors are with the Department of Forestry, HNB Garhwal University.)
Keywords: people are not against dams, assessments, self-styled environmentalists, Uttarakhand, hydropower projects
Comments:
It is a wonderful statement which reflects the truth. WII report is made for vested interest NGO's/Individuals. This report does not have any scientific approach. WII is not even ready to listen to the key stakeholders viewpoints. WII does not have any expertise in Hydropower engineering aspects. According to me cumulative Impact assessment of hydro power projects is beyond the expertise of Wild Life Institute of India. No field study has been carried out by the WII. It is unfortunate situation in this country that reputed Institute like WII is preparing an important report in irresponsible manner.
Views expressed by the experts from Gharwal University are really appreciable and bring out the hard fact that such a important study has been handled in a most irresponsible manner misleading completely the decision makers and certainly providing mileage to certain antisocial elements when the country is passing through a crucial phase particularly in hydro power devlopment. There is a complete mismatch in the methodology explained and its adoption for arriving at a conclusion and recommendation. Indication of transmission losses in our country to extent of 30 to 40% and recommendation to scrap certain projects with the plea that the loss can be made good by checking such transmission losses explains the level of understanding of the subject by the experts from renowned institute like WII which puts our heads down. The study report needs serious debate amongst experts in the field which can contribute in making required correction.
It is highly unfortunate that in the name of Ganga, these people are out to capture political clout, Institutions like WII are falling into their traps; in the name of so called 'Ganga Bachao' are coming up with sub-standard studies w/o any scientific basis. Hydel Projects are lifeline of hilly states like Uttarakhand. State & center should respect real requirements of people, their economic upliftment, aspirations and come out with whole hearted support to Hydel projects. See Europe, canada and other developed nations of the world...they have not stopped Hydel energy generation in the name of any river...None of these rivers on which hydel projects have been constructed have died...In fact the biodiversity, flora/fauna and all that these so called environmentalists want the world to believe, would die due to Hydel projects, have actually prospered. Hydro Projects are a blessing, let us use it. Govt. should immediately launch a CBI enquiry into this tirade against Hydel Projects.
I fully endorse the views of author. Hydro power is considered most non- polluting & renewable energy & therefore all developed countries largely explored their available water potential at the earliest opportunity. In India about 85% of available water potential remains unexplored mainly because of indecisiveness of policy makers, influenced by the authoritative attitude of govt. advisory committees & research institutes & also by the agitations of the self made environmentalist for their vested interest & popularity.
It is unfortunate that the construction of almost all Hydro projects in Uttarakhand is withheld for last 3-4 years on account of whimsical forest & wild life considerations & protest from environmental activist, jeopardizing the economical & social development of the state. Hydro project can be safely developed in our country with in-house experience & without banking on foreign technology, mitigating all reasonable environmental issues & therefore Govt. should promptly & wisely act on it before it is too late under the present scenario of coal & gas crunch.
Affluent free, clean Ganga is the dream of all county man & not only the environmental activist which is possible through sustainable growth of this sector & not by agitating & misleading the people.
I fully support and very much appreciate to the views expressed by the Author of this article! It is really unfortunate to see that Hydropower; which is globally proven to be the Cleanest form of energy; is being discouraged in our Country…. The responsible authorities; instead of being the Enablers are rather seen behaving more of a Disabler!
Indian States like Uttrakhand, and its people; are the most fortunate ones being blessed with such an important natural resource like Water; and hence Hydropower! However; any hurdles as mentioned in the above article are really very-very unfortunate and of incredibly huge losses to the stakeholders / people of the State of Uttrakhand…
I remember having read a slogan somewhere in Bhutan that “What Oil is to Gulf; is Water to Bhutan!” And these are not just words; this Country is really growing quite well following this slogan with all sincerity! They are achieving all the growth and happiness by developing more and more Hydropower in their Country! One must see this beautiful Country to believe in above slogan; and also to feel that there are said to be no negative affects at all to their Environment by building Hydropower Plants!
Anyways; I wish that respective Authorities / Bodies shall soon realize the importance of rather Enabling Uttrakhand State and its people to achieve all the growth they well deserve!!
Best Regards,
Sandeep Shrivastav
First of all I thank authors from Department of Forestry, HNB Garhwal University for highlighting the real facts and issues for hydro projects in Uttarakhand.
The rivers flowing in hill states with immense hydropower potential is a blessing for our Indian economy to produce clean and renewable energy for generations. The WII report is presenting incorrect facts about the habitat range of wildlife along with biased approach of conclusion. The good ecology and economy are indicators of sustainable development. But such studies are affecting the economical development of Uttarakhand and misguiding the GoI. The approach of WII is biased because in previous studies they have supported projects n Uttarkhand. But in this study they have presented anti hydro study emphasising on terrestrial wildlife.
It is very sad and disappointing that WII is against of economic prosperity of Uttarakhand and India using the sector specific knowledge for misguideing the society.
India has vast potential of Hydropower .Till date the exploited capacity is below 15-20%. It is the cheapest source of energy in the long run. Examples are the present cost of energy from projects like Bhakra, Hirakund, Salal and other projects constructed so far. Fossil fuel is becoming costlier day by day and their stock is depleting. They also cause lot of pollution. We have hydropower projects which are more than 100years old. If we would have exploited the hydro capacity first then we would have been in a position to prolong the availability of fossil fuel for a longer period. Therefore it is high time that we concentrate on development of hydropower where ever available, of course, with adequate mitigation measures. This is the need for Uttarakhand and for the country. Scrapping the projects on the grounds suggested by WII will land the country into irrecoverable energy crisis.
I congratulate the authors for their unbiased views. At present we badly need electricity at economical cost. Development of Hydro-power should be the first choice because it is environment friendly. Planners must design their project in a manner that does not damage the environment and aquatic lives; also it inundates minimal useful land. People should not be afraid of Dam break or other types of structural failures because of immense development in the field of science and technology. Most of so called environmentalists these days have limited and polluted knowledge, their objectives are self-projection by playing with innocent people’s sentiments. One should understand that the biggest pollutant of environment is mankind … so please educate them to save the environment rather stopping the development of the country.
Electric power is essential for development of any country and hydropower has been universally accepted as the most environfriendly renewable source of power.Hence if we want development, construction of hydropower cannot be discouraged. In fact, rather than opposing the projects altogether,insisting for implementing mitigatory measures to minimize the environmental impact will be a better alternative. In fact the general belief that hydroporojects will diminish forest cover is not correct due to the development of new forests to the extent of double the area destroyed, as per Government Policy.In my opinion, all those who support development should encourage hydropower projects conceived with adequate mitigatory measures also.
The views of the authors are highly appreciated. Today's world we need development; we are talking of energy security; We talk of sustainable development. How we are going to bring all these. All these are possible only with hydropower as we are aware that coal and oil would vanish one day. India is bestowed with large potential of hydropower untapped. If we do not develop these resources right now our future generation would only blame. It is a well known fact that hydropower brings in possitive changes in the region for its people. There are so many regulatory mechanisms to monitor the environmental safe guards and I do not find any reason why we should hear to those who for unknown reasons create hue & cry when ever a developmental scheme is planned or proposed. People unitedly should opposoe such moves for the larger interest of the Nation.
I fully appreciate the experts from Gharwal University to come forward and share the real facts about the views of the people and on the misleading report by WII. Hydro power is one of the most non- polluting and non conventional renewable energy source proven by case studies and laboratory analysis in all over the world. All developed and developing countries are largely exploring to utilize the available water potential by implementing environmental mitigation measures. Scrapping hydro electric projects with certain assumptions is no meaning. Hydel Projects are lifeline of hilly states for their economic and social development. Affluent free Ganga, is the dream of every Indian citizen to free from pollutants, sewage and industrial wastage throwing into the river. Taking advantage of democratic country, some of them are agitating and misleading people for their name sake. Now, it is the time to come out and speak the real facts for the economical and social development of the nation.
While it is a well known fact that hydro power is a green initiative and does little to impact the environment as such, it also generates employment amongst local people and brings in revenue for the state government. Misleading reports from a section of the media in connivance with so called vested environmentalists is a major deterrent for the development of the region and its people. When will we learn? Hydro rich countries like Norway have given to much thrust to their hydro potential and it has not shown any signs of a negative impact on their economy in any way. Then why such impediments in India? With thermal coal showing signs of scarcity and nuclear energy >posing a threat for the environment, it is about time the government wakens up and takes full authority in implementing hydro power to the best extent possible.
Dear Author, I am not sure, what you want to prove by writing such a superficial article upon CEIA and about the report of WII, given that forestry is not only sector project EIA looks in to as well. Based on established scientific facts available by now 'big' hydropower projects are not right kind of solutions for mountainous parts of Himalayas. Fact is that Hydro-power is important for energy security of the region itself, but their are alternate available in the form of small and through a robust monitoring system the EIA process could be improved, as most of the EIAs are not done properly for the projects. I don't know how come author say that the big hydropower projects are most welcome in the region given that they are proven fatal scientifically already in many parts of the world and through various established studies in Himalayas as well. I have not gone through WII report, but, there is no-sens in advocating for big dams in Uttarakhand.
Dams are killing Ganga and Uttarakhand. Tehri is working at30-40% of its efficiency and 85% of whatever electricity it is producing is not being sent to plains and not used in Uttarakhand. So dams can never be for the development of Uttarakhand. However, it will be for the benefit of CM where he can take money in these projects. Bigger and fatter the projects - the more Mr. Bahaguna can make for himself. As far as locals are concerned they are really agitated over this. Their old temple of 300 years in DaariDevi is being demolished. They would not even see Ganga for hundreads of kilometers and Ganga is really a mother to them. Not maybe to authors but definitely to locals. By these big tunnels the water sources for their fields have dried up.
The title of the article should have been that Vijay Bahaguna need Dams.
I am amazed at the short-sightedness over the aspect of development of a few individuals who have written this article & those who are endorsing hydel projects in Uttarakhand. Go to all the places where the so called "Run of the river"(Eg: maneri - bhali) or storage dams (Tehri) have been created & I challenge each & every person here to show even one village that has seen even a small ray of development ever since these gigantic structures were created in their vicinity. I can show you tons of villages that have no water left - the houses which are loaded with huge cracks & have not been given a single penny by the project authorities, the people who were promised jobs and now even after 12 years have received not even class 3/4 jobs. Harnessing water is one thing - but harnessing Ganga - the living symbol of our age old civilization is like moving towards the end of our race. Forget the reports, the EIA, the WII, the AHEC - power projects in Uttarakhand are not feasible or needed.
One must realize that the electricity from the big dams does not fuel the requirements of Uttarakhand. Besides, each of the existing dams is already functioning at merely 30-40% efficiency reasons being - excessive silt in monsoons & less flow during winters - since these are natural causes, it is obvious that they cannot be managed & therefore the projects are possibly not feasible. Instead what is needed is a set of micro-hydel projects which is typically the source of electricity in Uttarkhand presently - these projects will give the ownership rights to locals & such schemes can actually be used for different purposes - like wool-making etc. Alternatively there are alternatives like Perul electricity where locals can be engaged in collecting perul (abundant on forest grounds) & use that for electricity generation - but who wants to venture into alternatives where the set big hydro power schemes are warming up the pockets of corrupt leaders so well.
I am appalled that the views by someone in Garhwal university can be so unscientific & factually challenging. The fact of the matter is that the endangered special wild-life associated with the upper stretch of the Ganga (snow-trouts, Mahasheer) will suffer due to the construction of barrages. It is obvious that the fishes that flow against the river current to breed will not be able to cross the barrages made for these bumper to bumper hydropower projects. It is just simple logic that if the river doesn't flow in her original bed & the water gets diverted then the fishes will die. All those here who are commenting on WII report over petty details should for once see the condition of Ganga after Maneri Bhali dam in Uttarakhand - must see when the authorities divert the entire flow of the river into the tunnels, tons of fishes just die instantly on the dry river bed. Must see how the locals face the threat of leopards who cross the dry river bed & enter villages. No HEPs in Utrkhnd.
Please Email the Editor