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NEW DELHI: In a move that may prevent further stress on the fragile Himalayan ecosystem and upper reaches of river Ganga in Uttarakhand, the Centre Wednesday told Supreme Court that it’s “not in favour of permitting any new hydro-electric project in Alaknanda and Bhagirathi river basins” apart from the seven that have either been commissioned or have made substantial progress in construction.The Centre’s view was expressed by environment ministry through an affidavit to SC which has been examining the issue of allowing new hydel projects in the upper reaches of Ganga river basins since the Kedarnath disaster of 2013.The decision means the Centre will now go ahead with only seven of the 28 projects planned earlier and scrutinised by various committees. Centre told SC the risk/damage to environment, including health of the river, is far greater than financial/economic benefits of the remaining 21 hydro-power projects with a total capacity of about 2,100 MW.
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SC is expected to pass its order on the issue at the next hearing on Aug 20. It had in Jan granted three months to the Centre to take a final decision.The seven projects the govt wants to continue include four already commissioned – Tehri Stage-II (1000 MW), Singoli Bhatwari (99 MW), Madhmaheshwar (15 MW) and Kaliganga-II (4.5 MW) – and three, Tapovan Vishnugad (520 MW), Vishnugad Pipalkoti (444 MW) and Phata Byung (76 MW), which are in advanced stages of construction. The affidavit, representing “collective and consensus decision” of three ministries – Jal shakti, power and environment – argued that these seven “may be permitted to proceed, subject to strict compliance with applicable statutory provisions and environmental safeguards”.Better sense has prevailed: Green activistsIt is good to see that better sense has prevailed and the govt has taken this wise and welcome step to prevent future tragedies like 2013 and protect the fragile and disaster prone ecology of the Ganga-Himalayan basin,” said Mallika Bhanot of Ganga Ahvaan, a citizen forum working towards conservation of Ganga and Himalayan ecosystem. The decision to not have any new hydro-electric project in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi river basins was taken following inter-ministerial consultations on recommendations of different expert committees. One of the committees wanted 28 projects to be allowed in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi basins while the other one, comprising officials from Jal shakti and environment ministries, recommended only five.
