Alleging major anomalies in the public hearing regarding the Pancheshwar Dam Project held in Champawat on August 9, activists have demanded that the same should be nullified. Additionally, the public hearing to be held in Pithoragarh on August 11 and in Almora on August 17 should be immediately cancelled.
Vimal Bhai of Matu Jansangathan opined that the public hearing held in Barakot block of Champawat district proved to be a fraud for the people of the valley and environment.
“People of the valley knew nothing about the environment impact assessment, social impact assessment and management plan. To register the objections of the people a counter was set away from the public hearing venue. The panel members kept repeating about the rehabilitation and gave assurance which had nothing to do with the public hearing. The public hearing was held in a closed hall. There was an arrangement of a display screen for the people standing outside to listen to the public hearing. But it was announced from the dais that those who have queries can go out, which was not correct on the part of the panel. A woman ADM was roaming in the hall and was continously giving instructions to the people present. It was not possible for the people of 26 villages to come this far. Apart from a large number of government officials in the public hearing, two platoons of the Provincial Armed Constabulary and about 70 local police personnel were also present at the venue. Police present inside the hall tried to manhandle Omkar Singh Dhauni who had asked when the officials had presented synopsis of project documents at the village level. In his village- Pancheshwar it was given only four days ago. In the distant villages where even newspapers are not available one cannot expect the villagers to read the notifications on the website,” said Vimal Bhai.
He further said that discussion on environmental impact was only for namesake. The questions put forward by environment activist Arun Singh were also not answered correctly. “I was interrupted till the end and was not able to put forward my views. When I asked who the members of the public hearing panel were, the district magistrate said that I should not raise legal questions. When asked about why the news of legal papers and public hearing reached the villages so late, no answer was provided. When asked if any official present in the hall had read the 900 page long report and if not, how could residents of distant villages be expected to do so, no answer was provided by the officials,” he added.
Citing public interest, environment and long term interest of the state, activists have demanded that the public hearing held in Champawat be nullified and that the two public hearings to be held on August 11 and 17 should be cancelled. They also demanded that the environmental impact assessment, social impact assessment and the management plan should be presented in simple Hindi language to the villagers and this task should be given to an impartial organisation working in the field of environment. Venues of upcoming public hearings should be kept inside the area of the impacted villages. The public hearing should be kept after the monsoon season, the activists have further demanded.