Taking cognisance of a report published in The Pioneer, the Forest Department has penalised Hindustan Construction company of Rs1.5 lakh for dumping muck in the Alaknanda at Helang in Chamoli district. The department has also warned the company to desist from dumping debris in the river in the future.
The Pioneer had published a report on January 13 about dumping of debris in the Alaknanda by the Hindustan Construction company working on the Pipalkoti-Vishnugad power project. The local administration and Forest Department have taken cognisance of the report and acted against the company.
The Nanda Devi national park sub divisional officer Sarvesh Kumar Dubey informed that taking cognisance of the media report, a departmental team had been sent to the site and on finding the company guilty of dumping debris in the river a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh had been collected from the company. The company has also been warned to desist from dumping muck in the river in the future. The sub divisional magistrate had also sent the Nayab Tehsildar to the site to collect information about the case.
It should be mentioned here that various companies involved in construction and implementation of hydro power projects in Uttarakhand are known to dump debris in the river in stead of doing so at the designated dumping site. Such dumping alters the channel of the river and also affects its ecology. So far, at least one incident of flood damage being exacerbated by such improperly dumped debris has been reported from Srinagar, Garhwal.