At a time when the Government claims to be making all efforts towards disaster mitigation, questions are likely to be raised on the seriousness of intent considering the contents of an official letter written in the previous year by the Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Uma Bharti to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat.
In the letter dated July 11, 2015, Bharti refers to the tour report of a committee formed by the Central Water Commission which had stated that prima facie, it appeared as if the 330 MW capacity Srinagar hydro electricity project on the Alaknanda River was not constructed according to the design in the approved detailed project report.
The report had also noted inadequacies in the construction quality while also referring to the potential threat to life and property in the region around the project site. Bharti had also attached this report with her letter to Rawat for his information and necessary action but little has been done in this regard by the State Government so far. Activists also point out that the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change is responsible for the irregularities in implementation of this project.
In her letter, a copy of which is also with The Pioneer, Bharti refer’s to the CM’s letter number 1528/2014-15, dated May 6, 2015 regarding the the submergence of the Dhari Devi shrine because of the Srinagar HEP and the mishaps which occurred after that. The union minister had informed Rawat that in the past, faculty members of the Garhwal University geology department had written to the Power Minister Piyush Goyal informing him about the incidents in the Srinagar HEP and the resulting issue pertaining to the security of the life and property of the locals. She wrote, “Based on this letter the Power Ministry has sought comment of the Central Water Commission. For this, the CWC had formed a team consisting of representatives of the CWC, Central Electricity Authority, scientific and technical institutions. This team had conducted a site inspection on the basis of which it had submitted its tour report to the power ministry on July 10, 2015. In its tour report, the team had stated that prima facie, the HEP has not been constructed according to the design in the approved DPR in addition to which there were shortcomings in the quality of construction. The team had also referred to the possibility of threat to life and property in areas near the project. The team has also provided a copy of this report to the CWC which I am attaching with my letter for your information and necessary action,” wrote
the Minister.
Vimal Bhai of Matu Jansangathan states that no action has been taken by the authorities despite reports eliciting focus on anomalies and resulting threats. “The MoEFCC is responsible because it granted clearance to the project marked by anomalies including the raising of the dam height from 65 metres to 95 metres. The State Government too has not done anything to address this issue despite the serious threat of destruction being posed by anomalies in the Srinagar project. Recently, a hole was formed due to subsidence on a patch of the road along the project canal. The anomalies in this project will lead to a chain of destruction,” he said.
It will be recalled that the Srinagar project has elicited controversy since the start with heavy rockslides damaging the site when construction work was taking off in 1993. The site was further affected by flash floods in subsequent years. The issue was further inflamed when the Dhari Devi shrine was shifted to prevent its submergence due to the project with even Bharti strongly objecting to this step. Observers point out that though there have various issues affecting this project, environment and public, neither the Centre nor the State Government had done the needful towards redressing the potential threat from
this project.