Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Central Government has told the Supreme Court it will permit no new hydroelectric projects in the upper reaches of the Ganga — the Alaknanda-Bhagirathi basin in Uttarakhand.
It also said it has rejected the recommendations of a court-appointed expert body that had cleared 28 such projects, although seven of these projects are already commissioned or at an advanced stage of construction will be permitted to proceed.
The affidavit, filed by the Union Environment Ministry on May 20 on behalf of three ministries of environment, Jal Shakti and power, repudiates Expert Body-II (EB-II) which had recommended 28 hydroelectric projects (HEPs) for implementation. A Cabinet Secretary-headed committee subsequently reviewed the EB-II list and brought it down to five projects. The Centre has rejected even those five.
The upper Ganga basin is among the most ecologically volatile stretches of the Himalayas. Lying entirely within Seismic Zones IV and V, the Alaknanda-Bhagirathi system is the principal headstream of the Ganga — which sustains nearly half of India’s population — and is prone to landslides, glacial lake outburst floods, avalanches, tunnel collapses and geodynamic instabilities. It hosts endangered and Schedule-I species and carries profound cultural and spiritual significance. Recurrent disasters have made the cost of misreading this terrain unmistakable.
Seven projects — four commissioned, three with substantial physical and financial progress — will be permitted to continue: Tehri PSP on Bhagirathi; Tapovan Vishnugad on Dhauliganga; Vishnugad Pipalkoti on Alaknanda; Singoli Bhatwari on Mandakini; Phata Byung on Mandakini; Madhmaheshwar on Madhmaheshwar Ganga; and Kaliganga II on Kaliganga.
