The Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board has constituted a special committee to check illegal and unscientific dumping of muck by hydropower projects and other developmental activities in the basins of the Sutlej, Ravi, Beas and Pabbar, which could cause havoc during the rains. The decision has been taken by the commission as a precautionary measure in the aftermath of the Uttarakhand tragedy which claimed thousands of lives. “The decision to assign the task of inspection to specially constituted committees has been taken to ensure that there is no unscientific dumping of muck in the river basins, as they can be potential threat, especially during heavy rain,” said Kuldeep Pathania, Chairman of the HP State Pollution Board. The committee has been asked to visit the dumping sites of power projects or other sites of development activity and submit its report within seven days. They have been asked to recommend action wherever any major steps need to be taken. Pathania asserted that although hydropower development was a major thrust area of development in Himachal Pradesh, there is a need to harness the potential in a sustainable manner. “The proper management of debris and muck generated from any project during the construction phase is a major environmental issue which needs to be dealt properly and strictly to ensure that there is no damage to the fragile hill ecology,” he stressed. “The committee will appraise the safety and stability aspects of the protection measures implemented in the dumping areas of all these projects,” he emphasised. He admitted that seeing the devastation caused in Uttarakhand, Himachal could not afford to take any chances, especially during the rains. Several environmentalists and NGOs have been expressing concern over the unscientific dumping of muck and debris by various independent power producers in river basins which can pose a major threat. Experts too admit that there is an urgent need to have well-designed engineering structures for retaining the construction debris and muck which need to be monitored regularly for stability of the dumping site.