After the closure of three hydel projects, yet another major project has become the target of the ruling BJP’s politics in Uttarakhand.
The government has suspended the construction work of the 330-megawatt (Mw) Alaknanda hydel project at Srinagar, which is being built by infrastructure major GVK with an investment of Rs 2,769 crore.
With BJP leaders led by former state minister Mohan Singh Gaonwasi leading an agitation against the project on the issue of submergence of the Dhari Devi temple, the state government has set up a committee to look into the various issues related with the project and submit its report within 15 days time. Till the committee completed its work, the work on the dam site would remain suspended, officials here said.
The BJP government’s decision has been strongly resented by GVK, which had earlier agreed to elevate the Dhari Devi temple in order to save it from the reservoir of the dam. GVK had decided to elevate the height of the temple to 19 meters and build necessary infrastructure. The company is spending Rs 182 crore on R&R work which also includes the elevation of the temple.
"We have asked the government not to suspend the work as it would hamper our efforts to complete the dam by 2011. The government can easily complete its inquiry without affecting the construction work," said GVK Power CEO and Director P V Prasanna Reddy.
The move is also being seen as an apparent attempt by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who seeks to contest next assembly elections from Srinagar constituency, to appease the agitating local BJP and VHP workers.
Another issue related with the project is its height. The local leaders were alleging that the height of the dam was increased, due to which submergence area of the reservoir also got enlarged. On the other hand, Reddy claimed the height was never increased from 66 metres, only the foundation has been dug deeper.
Three major projects – 600 mw Loharinag Pala, 480 mw Pala Maneri and 381 mw Bhaironghati – had already been closed mainly on the demand of the state BJP government.
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