Some of the people to be affected by the Pancheshwar dam and Rupaligad dam projects in Uttarakhand have alleged that they have been kept in the dark. They along with activists have also alleged that the procurement of environment and forest clearance is being subtly processed which directly construes that the government is creating ways and means of the fulfilment for the contractors.
Vimal Bhai of Matu Jansangathan questioned how and according to which survey a former chief minister purportedly stated that 99 percent of the people are in favor of the Pancheswar dam. This shows that the government is trying to push the dam only on the basis of spurious data. Claims and promise in favor of the dam without studies show that the ruling party is treating the dam as an election campaign. Just in some way the dam should be put on a legal front and the promises and claims will remain swinging like the Tehri dam, he opined.
The activist further stated that the administration is trying to influence the people to be affected by the dam project and the non governmental organisations not in favour of the project. “The dam is being imposed on the incomparable beauty of Sarayu Valley and the Mahakali in the Kumaon area of Uttarakhand, cultural heritage, religious beliefs, oxygen reserves and the villagers who have been kept isolated from health services, education and other benefits of development even after independence. We utterly oppose both the dams,” he said.
The activist further alleged that the data of the Social Impact Assessment Report is outdated and inaccurate. The villagers are not even aware of when and who came to conduct the survey for the report. Therefore, the meetings on the Social Impact Assessment Report and rehabilitation policy going on in the villages of the Champawat district are being opposed.
“Assuming the two dams as a single project, the Environmentl Assessment Committee gave Terms of Reference for this project on April 25, 2015. Then, public hearing was also unified in one. There should have been separate public hearing of the 95-meter-high concrete Rupaligad dam of 240 MW capacity to be located 27 kilometers downstream of the Pancheshwar dam, proposed in the Champwat district itself. This has been done wrongly by stating it to be a part of the Pancheshwar multipurpose hydro power project. It is a big dam which itself is a separate project. This way, the rights of the people have been curtailed. Further, the public hearings in Champawat on August 9, Pithoragarh on August 11 and in the Almora district on August 17 this year were questionable on ethical, practical and legal grounds. The public hearings were completed without informing the people on time,” state those opposing the project.
Further, the locals and activists point out that 29,400 families of 134 villages are being affected in the Pancheshwar dam and 1,587 families in the Rupaligad dam. These numbers are very deceptive because only those who had land registered in their name have been considered as a family. They state that without actually giving the forest rights to the villagers, forest related clearances are being obtained under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. Till date, nowhere in Uttarakhand, have the people been recognized under Forest Rights Act 2006, they further claim. They demand that the authorities acknowledge that these are two dam projects and not one. The public hearings held so far should be considered “unlawful” and the social assessment report should be turned down. The villages should be given rights under the Forest Rights Act 2006 apart from which the public biodiversity register should be made at village, block, district and municipality level, demand the locals and activists.