Flash floods propel Centre to oppose construction of 21 hydropower plants in Alakananda-Bhagirathi basin

New Delhi: Half-a-dozen devastating flash floods in the last 14 years killing thousands was the key reason for the Union government to decide that it would not support any more new hydroelectric projects in the ecologically fragile Alakananda-Bhagirathi basin in Uttarakhand, apart from the seven that have either been commissioned or are under construction.

Making its intention clear in an affidavit in the Supreme Court, the Centre has turned down proposals for constructing 21 hydropower plants totalling 2,100 MW capacity, noting that damage to the environment including the health of the river is far greater than the economic benefits.

In doing so, the government among other things, relied on a hundred year old agreement signed between the British government, princely states and eminent social workers including Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya to maintain a constant unfettered flow in the Ganga.

The Union government informed the top court on May 19 that it favoured only seven hydroelectric projects, four of which have been commissioned and three are under construction with “substantial physical and financial progress”.

The commissioned projects are Tehri Stage-II (1,000 MW), Singoli-Bhatwari (99 MW), Madhmaheshwar (15 MW) and Kaliganga-II (4.5 MW). The under construction projects are Tapovan-Vishnugad (520 MW), Vishnugad-Pipalkoti (444 MW) and Phata Byung (76 MW).

They were among 28 hydro-electric projects that experts and the top court considered for close to a decade. The remaining 21 didn’t find favour with the government, which said, “No other new hydro-electric projects shall be undertaken in the upper reaches of the Ganga river basin in Uttarakhand.”

The affidavit is a common one on behalf of the Ministry of Environment and Forest, the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Ministry of Power that sparred over these projects.

One of the expert panels that favoured most of the power plants, based its recommendations broadly on the project’s impact on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems without taking into geophysical factors like land slide, flash flood, GLOF (glacial lake outburst flood), seismic activities and geological fractures for a project area that witnessed six flash floods including the big ones at Kedarnath in 2013 and Dharali in 2025.

Moreover, there were Uttarkashi (1991) and Chamoli (1999) earthquakes; Varunavrat land slide in 2003 and Joshimath land subsidence in 2023.

Four key factors were taken into account for the final decision including the Haridwar Agreement, 1916 concluded between the then Government, the Princely States and eminent social leaders including Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya. The agreement says an uninterrupted, natural flow of 1,000 cusecs of water must pass across the sacred ghats of Haridwar at all times to preserve the spiritual "purity" of the river for devotees taking a ritual dip.

Other factors are preserving the area, which is the principal head stream of Ganga; cultural and spiritual significance of the basin and geological fragility and recurring disaster history.

The government made the submissions in ongoing proceedings related to hydropower projects in the upper reaches of the Ganga in the aftermath of the 2013 Kedarnath floods.