DEHRADUN: As many as 6,000 villagers will lay siege to a hydroelectricity power plant built on Alaknanda River in Pauri district from Wednesday morning, claiming that most them were not given compensation for their lands which were acquired about ten years ago to construct the plant. Villagers, mostly from Srinagar …
The jury is still out on whether the existing and under construction hydro-power projects in Uttarakhand exacerbated the impact of floods there, but a group of environmentalists claim that the projects have had an adverse impact on the environment. They have written to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests …
A government report has pinned the responsibility of the Uttarakhand disaster on “haphazard human intervention” -- hydel projects, mining, de-forestation and infrastructure for religious tourism, which when coupled with fury of the rivers, issues related to natural terrain and weather conditions proved fatal for hundreds of unsuspecting people on that …
Following the calamitous deluge in Uttarakhand, as criticism mounted that too many hydel projects were destabilising the hills, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna claimed that but for the Tehri dam, Rishikesh and Haridwar would have been washed away. Over the past fortnight, it has become a popular justification for multi-purpose dams. …
As people have struggled to come to terms with the scale of devastation and loss of lives in the flash floods last month, a number of faith-based explanations have taken root in this land fertile with legend and lore. The Garhwal Himalayas have a disproportionate share of spirituality and mysticism-it …
The Uttarakhand government announced a series of major decisions on Monday for recovery and rehabilitation in the flood-hit state. The state cabinet decided on a Uttarakhand Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (URRA), chaired by the chief minister (CM). It announced a ban on construction of new buildings on and around all …
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 …
Do we not know the magnitude of the havoc rains wreak across India season after season? So why are we behaving like we were dealing with something alien and unpredictable? So now we have an infuriated Goddess Ganga as an alibi. That conveniently lets off all those scoundrels responsible for …
This preliminary report on Uttarakhand floods by National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) finds that “climatic conditions combined with haphazard human intervention” led to the disaster.
Srinagar (Uttarakhand) : The ground floors of more than 100 buildings seem to have disappeared. So has the basketball court, with only the top of the hoop mounted on the backboard visible. Motorcycles and cars are buried under silt and debris. Troops search for remnants of boundary walls to erect …
Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Thursday said the proposal to declare certain parts of Uttarakhand as eco-sensitive needs to be seriously considered, in view of the calamity in that state. “As the minister for environment, I feel it is an ecologically fragile zone and the eco-sensitive zone proposal needs …
ALLAHABAD: Samajwadi Party (SP) national general secretary and Allahabad MP Reoti Raman Singh on Tuesday castigated the Prime Minister for his failure in stopping Uttarakhand government's plan to construct dams on Ganga. He said that these dams were being constructed without addressing ecological concerns. Talking to reporters, the local MP …
Small hydro power projects which is considered as an alternative to medium and large power projects built alongside big dam in Uttarakhand and elsewhere in the country are not environment friendly, says Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Experts at a conference in the Capital said that the the power …
Bahuguna complains that ministry is delaying clearance to power projects The environment ministry has come under fire, this time from a Congress state government, once again reopening the development vs environment debate within UPA. The chief minister of Uttarakhand has complained about the Union environment ministry to Prime Minister Manmohan …
Hydropower is important. But how important? Is it important enough to dry out stretches of our rivers? Or is there a way to balance energy needs with the imperative of a flowing, healthy river? I have been grappling with these issues for the past few months. But now that the …
The Inter Ministerial Group was constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests last year and was tasked with suggesting an environmental flow for various stretches of the Bhagirathi, the Alaknanda and other tributaries of the Ganga, and to review the environmental impacts of projects proposed on these rivers.
NEW DELHI: Seeking to draw the line on litigation against power projects, the Supreme Court expressed unhappiness over resulting delays and cost escalations while dismissing a plea challenging a hydro-electric project on the Alaknanda river in Uttarakhand. The court observed that it is ironical that while power projects face opposition …
The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), under the ministry of forests and environment, has scheduled yet another meeting on Friday for clearing projects in violation of the Central Information Commission (CIC) orders. Earlier, the commission had pulled up environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan for a similar transgression. In February, the CIC had …
The contentious issue of the fate of the Dhari Devi temple at the hydroelectric project in Srinagar, Uttarakhand, along the Ganga has reached the high-level panel led by Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi, which had its first meeting last week on Thursday. It is learnt that one of the …
Save Ganga Campaigners have expressed concern over the possibilities of the river vanishing at its source due to the upcoming or proposed hydel power projects. Such projects are not solutions for the energy requirements for hills of Uttarakhand, they said. “They are outdated and will heavily damage the Ganga eco …
A study commissioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has called for re-appraisal of 24 proposed hydro-electric projects in Uttarakhand. At present, 70 hydel projects with a total installed capacity 9,563 megawatts are being planned within the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi basins. Of these, 17 are already commissioned, 14 …
