The National Green Tribunal has directed the Jaiprakash Associates to file an affidavit in connection with the dumping of debris and silt of the Vishnuprayag barrage on the Alaknanda riverbed, posing an imminent threat to the villages downstream as the monsoon breaks. The barrage was constructed by the company, Jaiprakash Associates, that runs the Vishnuprayag hydro electricity project on the Alaknanda river in Chamoli district.
Vimal Bhai of Matu Jansangathan, who has filed the application against the company in the NGT, has alleged that the company has been unable to clear the debris properly and is waiting for the advent of the monsoon showers so that the river carries the silt with it. This may in turn prove detrimental to the ecology of the river downstream.
The next hearing on the application filed with the assistance of the villagers living downstream of the Vishnuprayag project has been fixed on July 17.
According to the petitioner, the company implementing the project is responsible for the destruction faced by the downstream villages during the June 2013 calamity. On June 16-17 last year, floods in Uttarakhand had washed away properties in lambagad, Pandukeshwar, Govindghat, Vinayak Chatti, Pinolaghat and other areas downstream of the project.
"This destruction was wreaked because the gates of the barrage were closed by the project proponent during the floods. This also resulted in accumulation of huge quantity of muck and debris in the dam reservoir. After the incident, in order to clean the reservoir, the project proponent started removing the debris from the reservoir and dumped it on the Alaknanda riverbed in violation of environmental norms. We filed the case in NGT in October 2013 since no action was initiated against the illegal dumping of debris on the riverbed.
"The way muck and riverbed materials are left dumped on the riverbed, it appears as if the authorities are unable to dispose of the muck and are waiting for the monsoon and the river to take the muck away with it. This is bound to affect the downstream ecology of river. With such unplanned dumping of so much muck and debris, the future of the river is uncertain.
"Though the muck is removed from the barrage site to resume the electricity generation, the muck deposited in the upstream is bound to flow downstream in the rainy season. A proper management plan for removing the muck is necessary keeping in mind its environmental impact," he said.