Uttarakhand shelves hydropower plans on eco-sensitive Bhagirathi

The Uttarakhand government has, for now, shelved its plans to build small hydropower projects in the fragile Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone (BESZ) — created to protect River Ganga’s most pristine stretch between Gaumukh and Uttarkashi town.

In a March 6 meeting at the environment ministry, the Uttarakhand government stated that as there was no consensus among members drafting zonal master plan of the BESZ on hydropower projects, the state government has decided to restrict hydropower projects up to 2 MW.

“Government of Uttarakhand decided to honour the provisions of BESZ notification and also to reiterate its commitment to conserve and maintain the ecology and sanctity of holy river Bhagirathi, by restricting hydro-electric project up to two megawatt, sacrificing the investment potential of around Rs 739.96 crores and the sunk cost of about Rs 90.16 crores,” the minutes of the meeting showed.

The meeting on March 6 was held to consider the zonal master plan of the BESZ. The ministry panel is mandated to appraise proposals to demarcate buffer zones around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

The minutes of the meeting also stated that the expert panel also deferred consideration of the zonal master plan as it awaited comments from the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, one of the major stakeholders.

A 2012 notification of the environment ministry had notified a 100-km stretch between Gaumukh and Uttarkashi, spread over 4,179 sq.kms as an ESZ to protect the fragile watershed of the Bhagirathi river, one of the chief headstreams of River Ganga. The notification banned riverbed mining, construction on slopes, polluting industries, commercial tree felling and new hydropower projects, except micro or mini hydel power projects to serve the interests of local communities and only after conent of the gram sabhas.

Following a 2017 order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order, an expert panel of Uttarakhand government official and independent experts is drafting the zonal master plan of the Bhagirathi green zone to regulate development and to promote sustainable development in the area.

The Uttarakhand government’s submission before the ministry’s expert panel comes in the backdrop of its repeated attempts to push for construction of ten hydropower projects with a total installed capacity of 82MW. In fact, last May, the state government had once again made a push for new hydropower projects above 2MW.

Last April, the Centre had also relaxed provisions of the BESZ notification based on requests of the Uttarakhand government. The environment ministry amended the notification to allow limited land use conversion to improve civic amenities and infrastructure development for the public and national security in Uttarakhand. It also relaxed provisions to allow infrastructure works even on steep slopes, after environmental impact studies.