Report favours hydro projects but fails to give blueprint for balanced environmental needs and viability of Ganga as a water system The recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on hydropower projects set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Himalayan headwaters of the Ganga seemed to have failed to address the concerns of environmentalists. The environmental concerns assume greater significance after the devastation in Uttarakhand, and put a question mark on the planning of the area. The report actually favours large hydro projects, but fails to provide a blueprint for balanced environmental requirements, continued viability of the Ganga as a water system and development needs. Rajendra Singh, member of the National Ganga River Basin Authority, who served as a non-government member on the Inter Ministerial Group (IMG), said in his dissent note that “the group was more concerned with dams and hydro projects than issues of environmental sustainability of the Ganga”. The report, which was submitted to the PM in April, is yet to be made public, and the National Ganga River Basin Authority didn’t meet to discuss it. The IMG report has not suggested cancelling any of the 69 large hydro power projects in the Upper Ganga region, and has largely ignored the cumulative impact assessment done by the Wildlife Institute of India, which suggested dropping 24 of these projects. At present, there are 17 operational projects in the area, and 14 are under construction. “The recommendations are an exercise largely in supporting the interest of the hydropower lobby in the name of balancing the power and development needs of the region and local people,” said environmentalist Himanshu Thakkar, a view that’s shared by other environmentalists. The report’s implicit support for hydro projects annoyed many. “If the pro-river groups do not put up a stiff fight, this report will facilitate the approval of dams,” said Ravi Chopra of the Dehra Dun-based People Science Institute and a non-official member of the National Ganga River Basin Authority. A senior environment ministry official said that the report’s emphasis on large hydropower projects is a matter of concern. The official stressed that the ministry is yet to finish its examination of the report and would convey its views at an appropriate time. The IMG, in its assessment, has even considered projects that have been cancelled two years ago such as Lohari Nag Pala, Pala Maneri and Bhairon Ghati. “It’s shocking that projects like Kotlibhel 1B and Alaknanda HEP, which have been rejected by WII and Forest Advisory Committee, is considered as “under development” by the IMG, when they should have been rejected,” said Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People. While the IMG report talks of the unique biodiversity of the Ganga basin, it hasn’t made any recommendation on dropping projects like the 300-mw Alakananda GMR which would affect the Valley of Flowers and Nanda Devi National Parks. Incidentally, the 300-mw Alakananda GMR HEP has been rejected by the WII and Forest Advisory Committee.