A fine line: The Hindu Editorial on development and conservation
3 years, 3 months ago

A fine line: The Hindu Editorial on development and conservation

The Hindu  

The need for infrastructure development in the Himalayan region rubs up against the environmental and ecological challenges that they pose. The Uttarakhand government has for decades envisaged hydroelectric projects as the way forward to power the State, premised on the region’s undulating topography. There have been divisions even within various Central ministries: the Water Resources Ministry, which manages the NMCG, is opposed to hydropower projects while the Ministry of Power roots for them. The avalanche in Chamoli this February, that destroyed two power projects and killed at least 200, was only the latest reminder of the fraught risks that committees and their tussles inadequately account for. Along with better dialogue, power companies and the Centre must inspire greater trust in the residents of the region: infrastructure development will have to necessarily account for the region’s constraints.

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History of this topic

Uttarakhand CM meets PM Modi, seeks support on hydro, infrastructure projects
5 months, 4 weeks ago

Uttarakhand CM meets PM Modi, seeks support on hydro, infrastructure projects

Hindustan Times  

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and congratulated him on assuming the office for the third successive term. Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Read: Heatwave, dry conditions push Uttarakhand forest fires to new high The chief minister requested PM Modi to review the final …

Lok Sabha polls: Over 60 environmental groups demand ban on mega infrastructure projects in Himalayas
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Lok Sabha polls: Over 60 environmental groups demand ban on mega infrastructure projects in Himalayas

The Hindu  

More than 60 environmental and social organisations in the country have demanded a complete ban on all mega infrastructure projects, such as those related to the railways, dams, hydro projects and four-lane highways in the Himalayas, and have urged for referendums and public consultations to be made compulsory for all development projects. The organisations, jointly leading the "People for Himalaya" …

Moulding the Himalayas needs caution
1 year ago

Moulding the Himalayas needs caution

The Hindu  

As the efforts to evacuate 41 workers trapped in a tunnel near Silkyara in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand are weeks away from fruition, the infrastructure development trajectory in the Himalayas comes under serious clouds — once again. The Char Dham Project, all-weather roads, being constructed by the National Highway Authority of India in Uttarakhand, linking the four religious pilgrimages …

Closer together: The Hindu Editorial on the India-Bhutan talks and the plans ahead
1 year, 1 month ago

Closer together: The Hindu Editorial on the India-Bhutan talks and the plans ahead

The Hindu  

The decision by India and Bhutan to focus on infrastructure and connectivity during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bhutan’s fifth King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is an important marker towards more bilaterally driven regional initiatives. A joint statement speaks of completing surveys for the Kokrajhar-Gelephu rail link that connects Bhutan to Assam, and beginning discussions on another Bhutan …

Hydropower projects on the Teesta have weakened the topography of Sikkim, causing disasters like the recent floods
1 year, 1 month ago

Hydropower projects on the Teesta have weakened the topography of Sikkim, causing disasters like the recent floods

The Hindu  

Published : Oct 25, 2023 21:03 IST - 12 MINS READ On the night of October 3, 2023, the South Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim breached, causing a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood. Located approximately 60 kilometres downstream of the lake, in Chungthang town of Mangan district, was the 1,200 MW Teesta III dam, the biggest hydropower project in Sikkim. “Rivers …

Drawing the line: On information and risks underlying infrastructure development in Uttarakhand
1 year, 2 months ago

Drawing the line: On information and risks underlying infrastructure development in Uttarakhand

The Hindu  

The year began on a calamitous note with reports that the temple town of Joshimath in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand was ‘sinking’ and that cracks had appeared on residential and commercial structures. To address all these, the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority had commissioned eight reputed institutions to study the land-subsidence phenomenon from multiple angles. Surprisingly, it banned the …

Explained | Himachal floods: a man-made disaster?
1 year, 4 months ago

Explained | Himachal floods: a man-made disaster?

The Hindu  

The story so far: Flash floods during this year’s monsoon season have caused unprecedented damage to both lives and assets in Himachal Pradesh. Although climate change is expected to have played a hand in causing the high precipitation leading to these flash floods, human induced disasters resulting from planned development have played a significant role in causing such colossal losses. …

India’s push for 24/7 clean energy from dams upends lives
1 year, 8 months ago

India’s push for 24/7 clean energy from dams upends lives

The Hindu  

The pickup truck jostled away from the roaring Sutlej River and up the steep mountain path flanked by snow-capped Himalayan peaks, some nearly 7,000 meters high. He asked a question echoed across the Himalayas: “How much more can be demanded of us?” The federal government aims to increase India's electricity output from dams to 70,000 megawatts by 2030 — an …

India-Nepal partnership in hydropower development: Catalysing the fundamentals
1 year, 8 months ago

India-Nepal partnership in hydropower development: Catalysing the fundamentals

Firstpost  

In the quest of augmenting its industrial productivity and attaining its actual economic potential, Nepal remains on the path of continued hydropower development and it has already acquired a surplus power capacity. Nepal’s power export market and the need for Indian currency In all likelihood, Nepal’s enhanced power capacity will equip it better to use the surplus power at home …

Arunachal Pradesh farmers’ body rejects 10,000 MW hydropower plan on Siang River
1 year, 8 months ago

Arunachal Pradesh farmers’ body rejects 10,000 MW hydropower plan on Siang River

The Hindu  

Two Arunachal Pradesh-based organisations, including a farmers’ collective, have asked the State Government to scrap a deal for executing a proposed 10,000 MW hydropower project on the Siang River. Accusing the State Government of inking a deal with the National Hydropower Power Corporation for the mega-dam without taking the local people into confidence, Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum and the Indigenous …

Locals in Dharchula town of Uttarakhand protest against power project, fear Joshimath-like crisis
1 year, 10 months ago

Locals in Dharchula town of Uttarakhand protest against power project, fear Joshimath-like crisis

The Hindu  

Residents of Pithoragarh district’s Dharchula town, situated on the India-Nepal border and close to the China border, on Monday staged a protest against the proposed Bokang-Baling Hydroelectric Project in the Darma Valley, which will be executed by THDC India Limited. Living in a seismically sensitive zone of the Himalayas, residents are apprehensive about the hydro power project work, which includes …

Stop construction of hydel projects in Himachal’s Kinnaur: Green activists to Centre
1 year, 10 months ago

Stop construction of hydel projects in Himachal’s Kinnaur: Green activists to Centre

Hindustan Times  

Fearing Joshimath-like land subsidence in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur, various environmental groups and local activists have urged the central government to stop the construction of power projects in their district, which has at least 22 small and big hydroelectricity projects. They have urged the expert appraisal committee, river valley projects, ministry of environment, forest and climate change, to discuss the issue …

India plans ‘buffers’ in proposed Arunachal hydropower project to counter ‘China threat’
1 year, 11 months ago

India plans ‘buffers’ in proposed Arunachal hydropower project to counter ‘China threat’

The Hindu  

Concerns over China’s proposed 60,000 MW hydropower in Medog, Tibet are influencing the design of a proposed hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district. Still only in the planning stage, a ‘pre-feasibility report’ on the 11,000 MW project, or more than five times the size of the largest such projects in India – has been submitted to the Central …

Sinking Himalayan town puts spotlight on India’s hydropower push
1 year, 11 months ago

Sinking Himalayan town puts spotlight on India’s hydropower push

Al Jazeera  

Farmer Shiv Lal barely slept this week, overcome by worry about the deep cracks scarring his land and hundreds of other homes and buildings in a sinking town in India’s Himalayas. While NTPC officials and some geologists have ruled out tunnelling work as the cause of this month’s devastation in Joshimath, residents’ angry protests have reignited debate about the construction …

Kinnaur youth seek affidavit from candidates against construction of hydropower projects
2 years, 1 month ago

Kinnaur youth seek affidavit from candidates against construction of hydropower projects

The Hindu  

As Himachal Pradesh prepares for the Assembly election on November 12, a group of youngsters in the State’s tribal district of Kinnaur — which over the years has bore the brunt of environmental catastrophes — have decided to confront the candidates in the poll fray, asking them to give an ‘affidavit’ surrounding a promise against setting up of any new …

The high cost of Himalayan ruin
2 years, 8 months ago

The high cost of Himalayan ruin

Hindustan Times  

The Union environment ministry plans to exempt highway projects critical to the country’s defence or that are of strategic importance near the nation’s borders, from the requirement of prior environment clearance, this newspaper reported on Thursday. Environmentalists and geologists opposed the government’s stand because India’s northern borders fall in the highly eco-sensitive Himalayan region. The impacts are evident: The once-pristine …

Flood management that cannot be watered down
3 years, 2 months ago

Flood management that cannot be watered down

The Hindu  

Over the years, many of Bihar’s districts have been facing serious challenges with recurrent and massive flooding. Flood protection work As in the existing India-Nepal Agreement on water resources, the State government is authorised to execute flood protection works up to critical stretches inside Nepal territory along the India-Nepal border. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Water Resources Department, Government …

Activists oppose Centre’s nod to select hydropower projects in Uttarakhand
3 years, 3 months ago

Activists oppose Centre’s nod to select hydropower projects in Uttarakhand

The Hindu  

A group of environmentalists, historians, geologists and intellectuals have petitioned the Union Environment Ministry to recant its endorsement of seven hydroelectric power projects in Uttarakhand. The signatories include Kunwar Rewati Raman Singh, MP, Rajya Sabha; Justice Giridhar Malviya, Chancellor, Benares Hindu University, Ravi Chopra, chairman, Supreme Court-appointed expert body on impacts of hydro projects, Shashi Shekhar, ex-Secretary, Water Resources Ministry …

Explained | Why are hydropower projects in the Himalayas risky?
3 years, 3 months ago

Explained | Why are hydropower projects in the Himalayas risky?

The Hindu  

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 …

Ministries reach consensus on hydropower projects in Himalayas
3 years, 3 months ago

Ministries reach consensus on hydropower projects in Himalayas

The Hindu  

Six months after a devastating flood of rock, ice and debris gushed down the Rishiganga river in Uttarakhand and killed at least 200 and severely damaged two hydropower projects, three Central Ministries, which initially had dissenting views on the future of hydroelectric power projects have agreed to a consensus. According to an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court this month, …

Hydropower projects are wreaking havoc in the Himalayas
3 years, 9 months ago

Hydropower projects are wreaking havoc in the Himalayas

Al Jazeera  

On February 7, a Himalayan glacier broke and caused a flash flood in the North Indian state of Uttarakhand. “It shows that nature will strike back if we disregard the ecological limits of fragile regions like the Himalayas through reckless dam building and other infrastructure development.” After the 2013 flash flood, the Supreme Court of India also mandated a national …

Himalayan tragedy in Uttarakhand
3 years, 10 months ago

Himalayan tragedy in Uttarakhand

The Hindu  

When will the authorities learn from past experiences? Completely disregarding environmentalists’ recommendations, the government pushed through its foolhardy programme of developing run-of-river hydroelectric power projects, damming and tunnelling rivers in the process, blasting mountains to make roads and cutting down trees, destabilising the already fragile high-altitude Himalayan mountainous zones, thus creating disasters like the one unfolding in Chamoli district of …

No link between Char Dham road-widening project in Uttarakhand and flash floods, govt. says in SC
3 years, 10 months ago

No link between Char Dham road-widening project in Uttarakhand and flash floods, govt. says in SC

The Hindu  

The government on Wednesday denied in the Supreme Court any link between the Char Dham road-widening project in Uttarakhand and the recent flash floods in the Rishi Ganga valley, which claimed many lives and damaged the Tapovan hydro project. The 899-km-long Char Dham highway project connects four shrines of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath in Garhwal Himalayas The project is …

Uttarakhand Tragedy: Unscientific Cutting of Himalayan Soil Causing Disasters, Says Former GSI Official
3 years, 10 months ago

Uttarakhand Tragedy: Unscientific Cutting of Himalayan Soil Causing Disasters, Says Former GSI Official

News 18  

Unscientific cutting of Himalayan soil by infrastructure projects is disrupting the fragile ecology of the region and causing disasters, warned a former official of the Geological Survey of India on Tuesday. Former additional director general of GSI Tribhuwan Singh Pangti, who was associated with the now demolished Rishiganga hydroelectric project for initial two years as a geologist, said the hydroelectric …

Uttarakhand law to levy water tax on hydropower projects in state held valid
3 years, 10 months ago

Uttarakhand law to levy water tax on hydropower projects in state held valid

Hindustan Times  

Uttarakhand high court has upheld the constitutional validity of 2012 legislation enacted by Uttarakhand government to levy water tax on hydro power projects of more than 5 MW capacity in the state on water drawn for power generation at the rates decided by the state government, as per the order. The court order stated that a bare reading of the …

The Hindu Explains | Why are geologists worried about a slew of hydroelectric projects and environmental stress in Uttarakhand?
3 years, 10 months ago

The Hindu Explains | Why are geologists worried about a slew of hydroelectric projects and environmental stress in Uttarakhand?

The Hindu  

The story so far: A snow avalanche triggered possibly by a landslide caused a flash flood in the Rishi Ganga river, a tributary of the Alaknanda in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, on a sunny morning on February 7, washing away a functional small hydroelectric project and destroying the under-construction 520 MW Tapovan Vishnugad project of the NTPC on the Dhauli …

Uttarakhand Glacier Burst Fallout: Power Project Plans in Eco-fragile Himachal Regions Spark Fears Among Locals, Experts
3 years, 10 months ago

Uttarakhand Glacier Burst Fallout: Power Project Plans in Eco-fragile Himachal Regions Spark Fears Among Locals, Experts

News 18  

The Uttarakhand glacier disaster has sparked off fears hundreds of kilometres away. Residents of the Lahaul-Spiti region in Himachal Pradesh are up against proposed power projects in the ecologically fragile Chenab basin. The Himachal Pradesh government has already allocated several power projects in the Chenab basin. Concerned by the Chamoli mishap, residents of Tandi and Goshal panchayats held a meeting …

Until about 10 years ago, I believed that it was possible to have hydropower projects in Uttarakhand: PSI Director
3 years, 10 months ago

Until about 10 years ago, I believed that it was possible to have hydropower projects in Uttarakhand: PSI Director

The Hindu  

Ravi Chopra, Director, People’s Science Institute, has been a critic of hydropower projects in Uttarakhand and has chaired and been part of several committees that have deliberated on infrastructure development in the State, while staying true to the principles of sustainable environment. However, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, which was then led by Secretary, Mr. Shashi Shekhar, accepted our …

Rethinking run-of-the-river hydro projects
3 years, 10 months ago

Rethinking run-of-the-river hydro projects

Hindustan Times  

In 2012, I was part of a study investigating the impacts of National Thermal Power Corporation ’s hydropower projects on the lives and livelihoods of local communities in Sikkim. As part of the project, I spoke extensively to local people in the catchment areas of Teesta-V, a run-of-the-river hydropower project just like the Tapovan Vishnugad Power Project in Uttarakhand. ROR …

‘Himalayas are fragile and host to several complex processes that need to be monitored’
3 years, 10 months ago

‘Himalayas are fragile and host to several complex processes that need to be monitored’

The Hindu  

On February 7, a flash flood hurtled down in Chamoli, Uttarakhand killing at least 31 and destroying two hydropower projects. Kalachand Sain, Director, WIHG, says in an interview to The Hindu’s Jacob Koshy, that it was large rock falling on a hanging glacier that precipitated the avalanche and flood. The impact from the falling rock broke it and this mass …

Sanjeev Ahluwalia | Playing with God's world: Growth' has a high price
3 years, 10 months ago

Sanjeev Ahluwalia | Playing with God's world: Growth' has a high price

Deccan Chronicle  

Senior BJP leader Uma Bharati’s first reaction to the terrible news of the Chamoli glacier break/avalanche disaster on Sunday -- “I told you so” – fully aligns with the reservations of all those who put a higher value on conservation than on the development of natural resources for economic growth. On Sunday, a part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke …

Troubled mountains: On Uttarakhand glacier disaster
3 years, 10 months ago

Troubled mountains: On Uttarakhand glacier disaster

The Hindu  

The staggering collapse of part of a glacier in Uttarakhand’s Nanda Devi mountain and the ensuing floods that have claimed many lives come as a deadly reminder that this fragile, geologically dynamic region can never be taken for granted. Once the crucible of environmentalism, epitomised by Sunderlal Bahuguna, Gaura Devi and the Chipko movement, the State’s deep gorges and canyons …

Uttarakhand Tragedy: Cost of ‘Development’ & Climate Change
3 years, 10 months ago

Uttarakhand Tragedy: Cost of ‘Development’ & Climate Change

The Quint  

For years environmentalists have been crying themselves hoarse about the model of development being followed in these fragile mountainscapes, and yet the advice has fallen on deaf years. Their river had been imprisoned and they wanted her to flow unfettered else they predicted many disasters would unfold. At Chamoli, the epicentre of today’s crisis, I had met Chandi Prasad Bhatt, …

Was Against Power Projects on Ganga, Its Main Tributaries, Says Uma Bharti Amid U'khand Tragedy
3 years, 10 months ago

Was Against Power Projects on Ganga, Its Main Tributaries, Says Uma Bharti Amid U'khand Tragedy

News 18  

BJP leader Uma Bharti Sunday said the Uttarakhand flood tragedy triggered by a glacier burst is a matter of concern as well as a warning, and added that as a minister she had spoken against having any power project on the Ganga and its major tributaries. In a series of tweets in Hindi, she said the glacier breaking off had …

Hazardous ideas for the Himalayas
4 years ago

Hazardous ideas for the Himalayas

The Hindu  

In an article published on the website of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, China announced that it is planning to build a major hydropower project as a part of its 14th Five-Year Plan, on the Yarlung Zangbo River, in Mêdog County in Tibet. The northeast Himalayan bend has experienced several large earthquakes of magnitude 7 and above …

‘Carefully monitoring’ Brahmaputra amid China dam plans, says India
4 years ago

‘Carefully monitoring’ Brahmaputra amid China dam plans, says India

The Hindu  

India on Thursday said it “carefully monitors all developments on the Brahmaputra ” river, even as Beijing said it was its “legitimate right” to develop hydropower projects on the lower reaches of the river. A State-run Chinese hydropower firm, POWERCHINA, is planning to build the first downstream dam on the Brahmaputra, known as the Yarlung Zangbo in Tibet, with officials …

India Plans Dam on Brahmaputra River to Offset Chinese Construction Upstream
4 years ago

India Plans Dam on Brahmaputra River to Offset Chinese Construction Upstream

News 18  

India is considering a plan to build a 10 gigawatts hydropower project in a remote eastern state, an Indian official said on Tuesday, following reports that China could construct dams on a section of the Brahmaputra river. “The need of the hour is to have a big dam in Arunachal Pradesh to mitigate the adverse impact of the Chinese dam …

India plans dam on Brahmaputra to offset Chinese construction upstream
4 years ago

India plans dam on Brahmaputra to offset Chinese construction upstream

Live Mint  

India is considering a plan to build a 10 gigawatts hydropower project in a remote eastern state, an Indian official said on Tuesday, following reports that China could construct dams on a section of the Brahmaputra river. "Our proposal is under consideration at the highest level in the government," Mehra said, adding the Indian plan would create a large water …

Stop building hydropower projects in the Northeast | Analysis
4 years, 5 months ago

Stop building hydropower projects in the Northeast | Analysis

Hindustan Times  

The Northeast in general, and Arunachal Pradesh in particular, is considered to have immense hydropower potential. This rationale is no longer applicable for new projects, as hydropower loses ground to hybrid solutions — a mix of solar and spare thermal capacity, for instance — that offer round-the-clock power and are priced at low, competitive rates. An analysis of the Etalin …

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