Dehradun, July 4 -- Environment activists have expressed concern that the construction of dams along major rivers, as Uttarakhand tries to become 'Urja State', is causing harm to catchment areas as well as the flow and quality of water. No less undesirable are the consequent hardships faced by the locals. To encapsulate the role the State Government has to play in protection of rivers and local life wherever a hydro-power project is proposed - the project promoter has to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment report to Uttarakhand Environment Conservation and Pollution Control Board.
This board is then supposed to review the EIA report and send its recommendation to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The MEF may then give its consent along with some mandatory compliance norms. Importantly, it is the duty of the State Government to have in place proper mechanisms for regular monitoring and ensuring that the conditions of environmental clearance are fulfilled by the project proponent.
"However, in reality UECPCB acts only as a post office, simply forwarding the EIA report to the Ministry of Forest and Environment without reviewing it," expert member, National Ganga River Basin Authority and director of People's Science Institute, Ravi Chopra told The Pioneer.
Silting is another key problem requiring urgent Government attention. Necessary retaining walls have not been built at many sites, filing the pristine waters of the river with muck and debris. Additionally, though, it is directed that explosions be restricted to the bare minimum in a way that does not impair local life, villages altogether have developed cracks in the buildings, having threatening implications for the seismically sensitive zones.
To quote but a single example of official apathy, in May 2008 representatives of villagers getting adversely affected by APHCL's 320 MW project and volunteers of Uttarakhand Nadi Bachao Abhiyaan (Save the River Movement) had met senior State officials headed by the then Chief Secretary SK Das; explaining their problems and damage that was being caused by the project. However, despite clear knowledge, no action was taken by the Government with respect to the same.
The paper's interactions with social welfare activists exposed that another problem area relates to manipulation of Public Hearings (of locals being affected by the power project so that their grievances and concerns can be forwarded to MEF) by district administration. As explained by Chopra, "Whenever a dam is proposed to b constructed, opposition from affected populace is the most likely to ensue. And it is to give them a fair chance to air their apprehensions and problems that such public hearings are supposed to be held; transparency being their cornerstone. However, in reality, far from organising these as a just transparent process, local administration enters into a nexus with project developers for vested interests and manipulates the meetings."
He went on to cite the example of NTPC's Roopsiyabagar-Khasiyavada Hydroelectric Project on the Bhori Ganga in Pithoragarh district. It is reported that on the day scheduled for the public hearing, resentful villagers created tremendous furore and refused to hold the meeting. They complained that they had not been given the project plan directly and had to go to the far district office to get a copy, that the plan was difficult to comprehend because it was in English and replete with technical terms, notwithstanding which the villagers had been given only four days to assess the entire report.
Given the agitation, the district official in-charge announced postponement of the public hearing to October. "However, when the villagers started returning home, the district official asked them to have food following which they were misled into signing blank papers under the excuse of estimating the number of plates used during the lunch. A week later, NTPC gave a public notice informing that conditions of public hearing had been met and public consent obtained."
There is enough evidence to show that the construction of dams and associated infrastructure has led to widespread deforestation and catchment area damage in large stretches of Bhagirathi Valley, Yamuna valley, Alaknanda valley and the Kali- Kosi region. Recent pictures taken by Google Earth via satellite have confirmed that an eight-km stretch of the Bhagirathi river has dried up. The river is shown snaking through the Himalayan mountains as one long, sandy stretch minus any water. Other rivers emanating from the Gangotri glacier, including the Bhilangana, the Assi Ganga and the Alaknanda, all tributaries of the Ganga river, are also drying up.
According to the latest State of Forest report, Uttarakhand has a recorded forest cover of 46 per cent. Out of this only 1/6th is very dense forest and about 1/5th is open, degraded forest. Even out of the area that has forest canopy, one-fifth is quite degraded. And studies have shown that loss of forests is one of the key causes of drying up of streams and springs. However, The Pioneer's enquiry exposed that the State does not have in place any effective mechanism for regular site visits and report filing on the status of afforestation and other environmental norms' compliance for most big hydro-power projects.
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