Hydro Electric Projects on the Ganga – to be or not to be?

The old issue whether the dams on the Ganga for generation of hydro electricity should be constructed or not has again cropped up in the state in a big way and sharply divergent views are being expressed in different quarters. During the Kumbh the sant community demanded the scrapping of all the hydro electric projects in the 130 km stretch from Gangotri to Uttarkashi, including 600 MW Lohari-Nagpala, 480 MW Pala-Maneri and 381 MW Bhairoghati projects. Buckling under the pressure of the sant community the state government ordered the closure of the Pala-Maneri and Bhairon Ghati projects which were the state government projects and referred the issue of Lohari-Nagpala to the central government. Afterwards Dr. G.D.

Agarwal, a former professor at the IIT Kanpur, went on an indefinite fast, first at Uttarkashi and later on in Delhi, demanding the scrapping of Lohari Nagpala. The dithering central government suspended work on the project, being constructed by the NTPC, and gave the assurance that the project will be reviewed by an experts committee.

Now, since the Group of Ministers (GOM), appointed by the prime minister, has recommended to the central government to go ahead with the project, on which 650 crores have already been spent, Prof. G.D.Agarwal has again undertaken a fast unto death, this time at Matri Sadan Ashram at Jagjeetpur, near Haridwar, protesting against the decision of the centre. Prof. Agarwal started his fast unto death on July 20, his birthday.

Invoking mythology, Dr G.D. Agarwal says that, unlike any other river in the world, the Ganga is a divine river and descended on the earth from the heaven for the welfare of mankind. “The Ganga is our mother and she is the centre of faith for the tens of millions of people all over the world. The issue of saving the river is beyond arguments and scientific reasoning.”, says Dr. Agarwal. He also says that he is not concerned about the effects of dams on ecology and environment. “My only concern is the Ganga. I am ready to lay down my life to save the holy river”, declares the 76 year old professor.

M.C. Mehta, the noted environmental lawyer of the country, who is also with Prof. G.D. Agarwal here, says that since the Ganga is a national river, its status is different from that of other rivers. “We want to create mass awareness about the miserable plight of this river”, says Mehta. Swami Shivanand Saraswati, the head of the Matri Sadan, says that the Ganga is the symbol of the cultural ethos of the country. “She is the soul of India. We cannot tolerate that she should be imprisoned in dams and tunnels”, says Swamiji. The Magasaysay awardee, Prof. Rajendra Singh, who is also one of the non government members of the National Ganga River Basin Authority, said here that the GoM should not have taken a decision about resumption of work on Lohari Nagpala without taking the non government members of the Authority into confidence. “The dams, some of which are in the conceptual stage and some others under construction, are a threat not only to the purity of the Ganga but also to the fragile ecology of the region”, says Singh.

However, there is another side of the case. Padamshree Avadhesh Kaushal, who runs a big NGO at Dehradun, has threatened to go on a fast, demanding resumption of work on all the hydro electric projects in the state. “More than 1200 villages in the state are still without electricity. We need power for industries, agriculture and domestic use. The state is already short of electricity and the demand is increasing with every passing year”, avers Kaushal. There have been demonstrations at some places in the hills against the closure of hydro electric projects, since work on these projects generates employment for thousands of locals.

Dr. B.D. Joshi, a noted environmentalist and head of the deptt of environmental sciences in the Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar informs that the flow of the river is a regular system and even after remaining obstructed for 5-6 kms in the tunnels of dams, if the stream of the river is given time & space, it rejuvenates itself, provided it is not physically polluted. “The amount of discharge of industrial and domestic effluents in the Ganga upto Rishikesh is negligible. Instead of opposing construction of dams between Gangotri and Uttarkashi, what is more important is initiating steps to ensure purity of the river after Rishikesh from where the pollution level rises in the Ganga”, he asserts. A prominent leader of the business community of the state and former chairman of the city Nagar Palika Parishad, Pradeep Chaudhary says that the environmentalists like Prof. G.D. Agarwal are taking only one sided view and are trying to arouse emotions in the name of saving the Ganga. “The environmentalists, who oppose the dams, should also suggest the alternative sources of generating energy and employment and promoting development in a state like Uttarakhand. There is very little scope of generating nuclear energy in the state and solar energy is costly” , says Chaudhary.

A social activist and former MLA from Haridwar, Ambrish Kumar, affirms that instead of focusing on a limited stretch for saving the Ganga, a holistic approach should be adopted to save the river from Gangotri to Gangasagar. “We should not consider the issue merely from the angle of faith and emotions. A balanced view should be taken after reconciling the claims of faith and the requirements of development. Just as we cannot allow unbridled development to damage environment, including the purity of the rivers, in the same way the claims of development cannot be completely ignored in the name of faith and emotions”, says Kumar.

P.S. Chauhan