MoEF, Jal Shakti said no, but panel tells SC 5 hydro projects on Ganga are good to go

Initially, the tribunal enactment a moratorium connected granting clearances for immoderate caller HEPs, and asked the MoEF to signifier a committee to archetypal survey the interaction of specified projects. Since then, the ministry has formed 3 committees:

📌 The archetypal one, led by environmentalist Ravi Chopra, concluded successful 2014 that HEPs exacerbated the disaster. It besides recommended not going up with 24 projected projects.

📌 After six HEP proponents moved the Supreme Court for support to resume their projects, the ministry formed a 2nd committee successful 2015 nether IIT-Kanpur’s Vinod Tare. This panel  recovered that the six projects had anterior clearances but would airs superior ecological impacts.

📌 Then, a 3rd committee formed nether technologist B P Das recommended successful 2020 that 28 projects beryllium fixed a nod.

However, the Centre decided successful 2021 that conscionable 7 of these 28 projects, connected which enactment had already begun, beryllium fixed the go-ahead. This came connected the backmost of a gathering held successful the Prime Minister’s Office chaired by the Principal Secretary to the PM.

On August 8 this year, the Supreme Court asked the Centre wherefore it had allowed lone 7 projects. It besides formed a high-level committee, headed by Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, to revisit the B P Das committee study and determine the destiny of the different 21 HEPs.

This panel, successful a study submitted to the tribunal connected November 8, gave a go-ahead to 5 projects — Bowala Nandprayag (300 MW connected Alaknanda river), Devasri (252 MW connected Pinder river), Bhyundar Ganga (24.3 MW), Jhalakoti (12.5 MW) and Urgam-II (7.5 MW).

Apart from Somanathan, this sheet had 4 others — secretaries of the Environment, Power and Jal Shakti ministries, and the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand.

The sheet took into relationship concerns raised by the Environment and Jal Shakti ministries but concluded that determination is nary clear-cut grounds to found affinity betwixt HEP structures and landslides. It noted that determination mightiness beryllium immoderate adverse impacts of the 5 projects projected for recommendation, but added that their benefits outweigh the drawbacks and it serves the nationalist involvement to springiness them a nod.

The Jal Shakti ministry’s cardinal disapproval was that the BP Das committee did not relationship for the cumulative interaction of the projects connected Alaknanda, Bhilangana and Dhauliganga rivers.

The situation ministry was of the presumption that issues specified arsenic landslides, flash floods, glacial water outburst floods and seismic activities had not been considered by the committee adjacent arsenic they had a important interaction connected the region’s fragile ecology.

The ministry highlighted that astir of the 28 projects recommended were successful susceptible landslide zones and fell nether seismic portion IV oregon V. It besides pointed retired that caller disasters specified arsenic Joshimath flash floods, Chamoli earthquake and Joshimath onshore subsidence occurred astir task sites.

While it gave its go-ahead for 5 projects, the Somanathan committee was not successful favour of the remaining 15. It ruled retired 7 due to the fact that they fell successful the way of areas susceptible to glacial water outburst floods. The different 8 were ruled owed to their interaction connected aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

In the November 13 hearing, the Centre sought and was granted 8 weeks to “place the last decision” earlier the apical tribunal aft examining the BP Das committee’s report.

The Environment and Jal Shakti ministries did not respond to calls seeking a comment.