Project flayed
even as Sunderlal Bahuguna continued his hunger fast in protest against construction of the Tehri dam, the expert committee on rehabilitation and environmental aspects of the hydroelectric project submitted its report to the government on November 13, 1997. The panel noted major flaws in the project's 20-year old rehabilitation and resettlement ( r&r ) programme and lapses in following environmental norms.
The 12-member panel, headed by former Planning Commission member C H Hanumantha Rao, has recommended that cost assessment of environmental safeguards be made mandatory for economic clearance. The panel has also given recommendations for eligibility for compensation of majors in families affected by the project. "Dissent' notes by four members suggest that the report omitted many other recommendations.
Three days before the report came out, Union energy minister Y K Alagh met Sunderlal Bahuguna, who has been on total fast since October 2 . "If an accredited authority says the dam should be stopped, it should be stopped,' Alagh said. Meanwhile, in a letter to Bahuguna, the Prime Minister has urged him to give up the fast and cooperate with the project. A prolonged fast by Bahuguna some years ago had resulted in the setting up of the environment, r&r and the dam safety panels. The latter has yet to submit its report. The government now plans to appeal to the Supreme Court, asking for clubbing of all pending cases.
The Tehri Bandh Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti, meanwhile, has welcomed only the environmental recommendations of the report. "Without the safety report of this risky dam, which is being built in a seismic zone, there is no point talking about r&r ,' said a samiti spokesperson.
The earth-and-rock-fill dam, along with its subsidiary, the Koteshwar dam, would affect 125 villages, 37 of which would be fully and 88 partially inundated. It will displace 10,303 families and partially affect 4,278 families.
The project's land acquisition process, which began in 1979, caused considerable confusion, the panel report noted. There were inconsistencies in evaluation, low valuation for trees, non-valuation of common resources, and corruption. The compensation worked out was two acres of land to each fully-affected family and cash compensation for the land submerged for the partially affected. The panel has redefined the word "family' in the r&r policy to include sons and daughters who are 18-plus as of January 1990 as a new family unit. Married sons would receive Rs 150,000 and unmarried sons and daughters would receive Rs 75,000. Those who could not be rehabilitated so far would receive cash instead of land. "It's just a handout, not proper rehabilitation,' said S Parasuraman, committee member and professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He said that the government members in the committee insisted that there was no land available for rehabilitation.
On the environmental aspects, the panel questioned the practice of giving environmental clearance before studies are completed. It noted that the plans for protection of flora and fauna, water quality management, disaster management, catchment area treatment and command area development had not been submitted on time or had not been submitted at all. Moreover, the ministry of environment and forests has not approved any of the plans submitted.