Ruinous power project

The project will convert the Ganga River into a 30- km long stinking reservoir. This will have many severe environmental impacts.

Illegal activities of hydropower companies are being supported by the Centre and the State government of Uttarakhand. The underlying assumption is that the benefits from these projects are so huge that the destruction of environment is justified.

I give the example of the Srinagar hydroelectric project being built on the Ganga in Uttarakhand. This project will convert the Ganga River into a 30-km long stinking reservoir. This will have many severe environmental impacts. The sediment that is food for fish and that renourish our coasts will be trapped.

A study by Nagpur-based National Environment Engineering Research Institute has found that the Ganga water has specially powerful coliphages. These are beneficial bacteria. These coliphages become active whenever there is an influx of pollutants and eat them away. They settle in the sediment.

The sediment is especially rich in copper and chromium have bactericidal properties. The sediment also has minute levels of radioactivity which may have a bearing on creation of these beneficent coliphages. Making large number of dams on the rivers impacts the sediment in two ways. Large amounts of sediment is trapped in the reservoirs behind the barrage. Secondly, making the river flow through tunnels removes the friction between water and the rocks and thereby prevents creation of sediment.

Another negative impact of the projects is the creation of poisonous methane gas from the reservoir. Organic matter such as leaves and dead bodies settle at the bottom and ferment. Carbon dioxide is generated as long as the water has some oxygen. The poisonous methane gas is generated afterwards. This gas contributes many times more to global warming than CO2.

There will be loss of sand and fish to local people. Mosquitoes will breed in the reservoir that will carry malaria vectors. In a global study by Switzerland-based institutes, it was found that incidence of malaria around man-made reservoirs was about 7 per cent higher than surrounding areas.

Many local people support the project despite these environmental harm. Argument is that objections to the project should have been made earlier; not when the project is nearing completion. This argument ignores the fact that the first petition against the project was filed in the high court in 2008 when construction had just started.

About 350 hectares forest land, and more private land will be acquired for the project and will be submerged in the reservoir. The loss of jobs from this land will be much greater. The potential of job creation from the services sector will be hit. Hospitals, universities and software parks can be established on the banks of naturally flowing rivers with excellent results. Conversion of Ganga into dry bed or stinking reservoir will kill this opportunity.  Lakhs of hoteliers and taxi operators make a living from the Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand. This Yatra will be less after Ganga is killed.

Putting roadblocks

Third argument is that so-called ‘outsider’ environmentalists are coming to Uttarakhand and putting roadblocks in economic development of the state. It is forgotten though that the dam companies are also coming from ‘outside’. If objection is to outsiders then the dam companies should be thrown out first.

People of Uttarakhand should also realise that many of them are making a living in Delhi and Chandigarh. Then these ‘outsiders’ should also be asked to go back to Uttarakhand.

Fourth argument is that hydropower is the ideal natural resource to be exploited for economic development of Uttarakhand. I am not opposed to hydropower. The solution is to change the design of the hydropower projects. A partial obstruction should be made on the river bed, instead of a barrage across the entire bed, to take out part of the water for generation of hydropower and leave remaining riverbed free to enable downward flow of sediment and upward migration of fishes. Such a design will increase the cost of generation of electricity from present Rs 4 per unit to, say Rs 5 per unit but the environmental and social costs will be reduced by about 90 per cent.

The basic trick lies in abstracting water from the river without making an obstruction across the river bed. The Tajewala Barrage on the Yamuna in Haryana did precisely this. Water for the Eastern Yamuna Canal was taken out by erecting gates on the side of the river. Water used to go into the canal through the gates due to the centrifugal force as the river took a turn. The Taziminia hydropower project in Alaska also takes out water from the river in a similar way. An opening is made in the river bed where there is a natural pool. Water slips into the tunnel without requiring construction of a barrage. This project is small—only 825 kw. But there is no reason why this method cannot be used for other larger projects.

The government is in full know of these problems. But it is nevertheless persisting in building these projects because the objective is to transfer natural resources from the poor people to the rich. I have made an assessment of the money value of the environmental costs of the Kotlibhel 1B hydropower project which is almost identical to the Srinagar project. I have assessed the loss to environment at Rs 700 crore per year while benefits from electricity at Rs 155 crore per year. I have sent my book to various officials of Government of India and Uttarakhand.

But no one is willing to examine these aspects. Reason is that the government has made an unholy alliance with the dam companies to misinform the people about the so-called huge benefits from electricity and surreptitiously impose huge environmental and social costs on the poor people. The British government hoodwinked poor people of India to join the police forces and spray bullets on the people seeking Independence. The Central and state governments are similarly hoodwinking poor people of Uttarakhand to join the dam companies in destroying their culture, environment and economy.