Explained | Why are hydropower projects in the Himalayas risky?

The Environment Ministry, in an affidavit placed in the Supreme Court earlier this month, has disclosed that it has permitted seven hydroelectric power projects, which are reportedly in advanced stages of construction, to go ahead. The Das committee recommended all six projects with design modifications to some, and this gives lie to the Environment Ministry’s current stance. Following the break in the Raunthi glacier that triggered floods in the Rishiganga river in Uttarakhand on February 7, which washed away at least two hydroelectric power projects — the13.2 MW Rishiganga hydroelectric power project and the Tapovan project on the Dhauliganga river, a tributary of the Alakananda — environmental experts have attributed the glacial melt to global warming. Though the Centre is committed to hydropower projects because it’s a renewable source of power, the ecological damage combined with the reduced cost of solar power means that it has in recent times said on multiple occasions that it is not in favour of greenfield hydropower projects in the region.