Renuka factfile
Location: On River Giri, a tributary of the Yamuna, in Renuka tehsil of Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh
Objective: To supply 1,240 mld water to Delhi for nine months a year and 40 MW electricity to Himachal Pradesh
Cost: Rs 2,700 crore; Centre will bear 90 per cent of the project cost
Dam height: 148 metres, about the height of a 50-storey building
Reservoir Length: 24 km
Land requirement: 2,200 hectares
Number of villages to be affected: 37, of which 20 will be submerged. Around 700 families will be displaced. Environment impact assessment (EIA) report puts their number at 337
Number of trees to be cut: 2,500-3,000 according to the EIA but the actual number may be around 13,000. The EIA has not taken into account forests on private land
Possible losses:
- Agricultural land
- Minor forest produce
- Gharats (water mills that generate electricity and are used to make wheat flour)
- Sand from the river bank used to construct houses locally
- Income through royalty from the grazing communities that visit these forests
- Livestock and animal husbandry
- Fishing
- Environmental impacts: methane generation from the reservoir; ecology of the flowing river
- Religious value of Renuka lake
- 1,240 mld water to Delhi for nine months, not taking into account losses during supply
- 40 MW power, if there is enough water in reservoir all through the year
- Tourism: river rafting