VHP sees Tehri dam as a threat to Hinduism

14 July 2000

The Times of India News Service

NEW DELHI: It's not just a question of Ram teri Ganga maili ho gayi. If the construction of the Tehri Dam is not stopped, it'll be a situation of Ram teri Ganga hi nahin rahi.

On Thursday, Vishwa Hindu Parishad working president Ashok Singhal appealed to the BJP-led coalition at the Centre: stop the construction of the Tehri dam immediately and assure Hindu society that it will never be constructed on the Bhagirathi.

The Centre has been all for the dam, so has the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. Work has been on for years. And the project, conceived 20 years ago, is almost three-fourths complete.

Singhal's argument is simple: If the dam is built, four-fifths of the water in the lake created will consist of rainwater. Only 20 per cent will be Bhagirathi water.

So, as Singhal put it in Thursday's appeal to Union water resources minister Arjun Sethi, ``The holy Gangajal that devotees take from Har ki Pauri (Hardwar) will no longer be the same non-polluting Gangajal but will be like any other water. As such, the real Ganga will be no more for devotees.''

Singhal says crores of devotees have to be told of this - or ``it will be a great betrayal of trust''. He refers to a two-day workshop last month in Roorkee on the Ganga ecosystem, its problems and management, and says it was clearly evident scientists didn't have a clue about why the Gangajal had remained unpolluted. ``No other river in the world has this unique quality of self-purification,'' notes Singhal.

Singhal's advice: ``Take courage, cancel this project and modify it'' so electricity is generated by a run-of-the-river scheme that would yield much the same result as the dam.

And, save the holy river. ``For, if the Ganga is lost, its purity is lost, the Teerthas on the Ganga will be lost and the great Hindu culture will be lost.'' Copies of the appeal have been sent, for ``information and necessary action'', to Prime Minister Vajpayee and home minister Advani. Neither Sethi nor senior water resources ministry officials were available for comment.

And what if the government doesn't agree? Then, says PTI, the VHP will launch an agitation to keep the Ganga pure.

Tehri dam issue to affect voting in Garhwal

8 September 1999

By R P Nailwal

The Times of India News Service

DEHRA DUN: The dam is going to affect the Lok Sabha election in the Tehri Garhwal constituency. There is a simmering anger which is coming to the fore among the dam-affected people.

For the first time in 30 years, after the work on the controversial 2,400 MW hydro dam began on the banks of river Bhageerathi in Tehri Garhwal, the people are reacting.

The change is attributed to the recent decision of the Uttar Pradesh government to vacate by winter-end Tehri town which has a population of nearly 35,000. A number of government offices, banks and educational institutions have already been shifted from Tehri town to the nearby New Tehri town.

Students and business men of Tehri are on the warpath due to the shifting. ``The government will have to pay a heavy price for the unilateral action. Students have been put to a great deal of hardship,'' said Rajendra Kothiyal, a senior Congress leader and former secretary of Tehri Bar Association.

By and large, the dam oustees are also unhappy with the compensation package, which according to one of the oustees, Lok Mani Saklani, ``was not adequate''. Even where the oustees have been gradually settled over the years in some foot-hill areas such as Bhaniawala, Kargi Banjarawala in Bahadarabad near Rishikesh, Dehra Dun and Hardwar, problems of civic amenities continue to bother them.

Successive state govenments have been negligent and insensitive to the oustees problems and the BJP which had made tall promises before the election had actually done precious little, points out Indrabhushan Badoni, a person closely associated with the Tehri dam oustees.

The Hanmunt Rao committee appointed by Prime Minister Deve Gowda to look into the problems of the oustees had submitted its report favouring a special deal for the affected before the final commissioning of the dam in March 2002. The committee report is now gathering dust.

``Where is the land for future oustees?'' asked Bhudev Lakhera, a former member of the coordination committee on Tehri Dam, who was at one time the chairman of Tehri zilla parishad.

The entire rehabilitation will have to be carried by the U P government. As it is, the present U P government headed by the BJP does not seem much bothered about the outstanding problems of the oustees. Its candidate, Raja Manvendra Singh, has been winning the seat for the party on his personal popularity. This time again, he faces candidates fielded by the Congress party and the Samajwadi Party.

Out of the ten revenue blocks in Tehri district, which form part of the Tehri parliamentary constituency, four are affected by the dam and may influence polling.

``The BJP is sensitive to the problems and we will try to help the dam-affected as soon as we take over at the Center once again,'' promises Devendra Kumar, Uttaranchal spokesman of the party.

Narmada finds an echo in Tehri

Tehri, August 10 (Umesh Raghuvanshi)

Encouraged by Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy's plunge into Narmada dam agitation, the people of Tehri have stepped up their protest against dislocation.

Even as the process of evacuation is being expedited, the State Government is yet to make arrangements for land to over 2,500 families to be evacuated from this age-old town.

The State Government is yet to acquire the land to be allotted. A large chunk of the land remains to be identified as the evacuees have stressed that they should be shifted to Dehra Dun instead of Hardwar, which does not form part of the proposed Uttarakhand State. Immediate shifting of the town has been necessitated to pave way for further construction of the Tehri Dam, which has to be completed by March 2002.

The locals here are sore at their neglect by the State Government. Though protests by Sunder Lal Bahuguna had drawn attention towards the environmental aspects to some extent, the battle being waged by local people has failed to have any impact on the shifting programme. The locals have not only made complaints against the amount of compensation being paid to them, but have also found flaws in the Rehabilitation Policy being implemented by the State Government at the behest of the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation.

Locals speak bitterly against the move to shift the town without addressing to the problems of the people in the rural areas. A majority of the rural population depends on the Old Tehri town for their day-to-day earnings or supply of essential commodities.

A banner put up by a local organisation here, warns the State Government against shifting the town without addressing to their problems. The banner reads, "Devon ki bhumi hamari devon se hain bhav hamare, yadi danav sa vyavhar hua to ham daityon sa sanhar karnge." (This is the land of Gods. We cherish high values. We will fight to finish if a fair treatment is not given to us.)

Many locals in the town, including Mr Durga Prasad Bhatt and Mr Rajesh Dyondi, had complaints against the amount of compensation paid to them. Mrs Sushila Devi Parmar, who claimed her lineage from a royal family, said she had been paid Rs 2 lakh and 300 square-metre plot in New Tehri town. "Even value of our old house doors exceeds the amount of compensation paid to us," she said with disgust.

The Director Rehabilitation, Mr Chandra Singh, said he was personally looking into the problems of the evacuees. The complainants in a large number of cases do not have any grounds to substantiate their points.

However, the problems of some of them may be genuine which would be looked into. Meanwhile, all banks situated here are being shifted to expedite the process of evacuation of this town, which would begin to submerge in November this year.

The leading nationalised banks have already informed the public to complete transactions as their branches would be shifted to New Tehri soon.

A notice in this regard has also been published by a nationalised bank in the local newspapers, asking its customers to make necessary transactions before its branch is shifted to New Tehri town. The branches of the banks are being shifted following directives from the district administration, which asked them to relocate their branches in the New Tehri town.

The GM Project Tehri Hydro Development Corporation, Mr S. C. Sharma, said the rehabilitation work had been transferred to the State Government. Regarding shifting of the town before November, he said, it had been necessitated in view of the proposed closure of Bhagirathi tunnels.

The Bhagirathi water will thereafter be passed through T-3 and T-4 tunnels of Bhilangana River. The water was expected to rise to a level of 632 metres which would pose a serious threat to the Tehri town. The Bhagirathi's water level may go dangerously high during rainy season even before the tunnels are closed.

Adequate arrangements have been made to evacuate people to safer places. The siren will start blowing and people residing in Malin Bastis in the town will be shifted immediately if the water level, which was at 620 metres now, goes up further, he said.

Bhagirathi may submerge Shiva

Tehri, August 9 (Umesh Raghuvanshi)

Will The Bhagirathi be able to submerge Lord Shiva who contained her gushing waters in his jata? It seems to be a clash between mythological belief and modern day development in this age-old town, which will begin to submerge in Nov.

An ancient Satyeshwar temple of Lord Shiva situated in the heart of Tehri will also be submerged along with the town to pave the way for the further construction of the Tehri Dam coming up here at the confluence of Bhagirathi and Bhilangana.

The temple is held in high esteem and it finds reference in Kedar Khand of the Skand Purana.

Tehri was a small village till 1815 when Maharaj Sudarshan Shah made it his capital. A Raj Bhawan built by Maharaja Kirti Shah bears the testimony of its ancient glory. Two tunnels of Bhagirathi will be closed in November this year and its water will start passing through the tunnels of Bhilangana, thereby leading to a rise in the water level. All the natives of Tehri town have to be shifted before the water rises to a level of 632 metres or even higher.

Even as the process of evacuation has been expedited and all education institutions and government offices are being shifted, the natives believe submerging the Satyeshwar temple of Shiva will not be easy.

Natives refer to the conversation between King Bhagirath and Ganga which also finds its reference in Srimad Bhagwat.

Mr Laxmi Bahuguna a local resident said how could the Ganga drown Shiva.

The temple which finds reference in the Skanda Purana has been a matter of pride for the natives. Something unusual may happen to save it, he said. The temple would find no replacement in the new Tehri town. Mr Badri Prasad Uniyal leader of local traders organisation said with the submersion of the town our entire culture would be lost.

The people were being shifted to newly coming up colonies in New Tehri, Dehradun and Hardwar. Those who have been able to get some land in Dehradun may be able to identify themselves with the culture of Garhwal.

However those being shifted to Hardwar would find themselves out of Uttarakhand once a new state is formed.

The Director of Rehabilitation Mr Chandra Singh, said the State Government was aware of the problem of those being shifted. He said all efforts were being made to acquire additional land in Dehradun. Many of the families have been already shifted to Hardwar.

While the State Government continues to make efforts to accelerate the pace of rehabilitation people remain unsatisfied. Goverdhan the local priest of the Satyeshwar temple also is not happy with the amount of compensation paid to his family. "We are four brothers. Nothing has been paid to us," he claimed.

Many others in the town including Mr Durga Prasad Bhatt and Mr Rajesh Dyondi had similar complaints and said they had been paid inadequate compensation.

Tehri dam agitation loses sting

10 August 1999

By R P Nailwal

DEHRA DUN: The state government has begun operations to make residents vacate Tehri town by November end. A number of government offices, educational institutions and banks have already been shifted to the nearby New Tehri town.

The anti-Tehri dam agitators seem to be lying low unlike the Sardar Sarovar activists in Madhya Pradesh. Even environmentalist Sunder Lal Bahuguna, a staunch opponent of the dam, appears to have diluted his stand on the construction of the 2,400 MW dam across the Bhagirathi river.

``A lot of money has already been spent. The dam can continue but the reservoir should not be built. The water should be stored only up to the tunnel level,'' Mr Bahuguna said, emphasising the need for protecting local interests.

Till a few months ago, he had been consistently opposing the dam terming it ``very dangerous'' as it lay in a quake-prone region. Twice in the past, the veteran Sarvodaya leader had observed month-long protest fasts seeking a total stop to the construction.

Mr Bahuguna said he had sought a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee recently to request him to ensure that the reservoir was not constructed as it would pose a grave danger to the downstream settlements. ``The PM is yet to give me time,'' he said. Mr Bahuguna planned to inform Mr Vajpayee that areas such as Raika Patti, Mali Devul and Serain on either side of the proposed reservoir were already sinking.

Meanwhile, Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation (THDC) officials said their plan was to ensure the total evacuation of Tehri town by November end.

``Almost 80 per cent of the offices in Tehri town have been shifted to New Tehri town and the remaining will be transferred before November,'' said a senior official. Only a few students were currently agitating on the streets in Tehri town protesting against the shifting of educational institutions, the official added.

Total bandh in Old Tehri

By Our Staff Correspondent (The Hindu)

OLD TEHRI, JULY 6. Old Tehri township observed a total bandh and road blockade for the sixth day today with locals demanding a halt to shifting of educational institutions and offices till all those who would be affected by the Tehri Dam project were rehabilitated and alternative arrangements made for those living in nearby villages and attending school or college here.

Shopkeepers, residents and social workers come out in large number to block the only bridge on the road connecting Tehri town with the rest of the region from 6.a.m to 10.00 p.m. everyday. Traffic is however allowed to pass at night. The closure of shops for the six days has adversely affected the poor who depend on daily purchase of rations.

According to Mr Vijay Singh Pawar, Tehri Nagar Palika president who spearheads the movement, the bandh would continue till the authorities assured that the educational institutions and offices in Old Tehri would not be shifted until all the affected families were rehabilitated. The residents would be forced to stop work at the Tehri Dam project if their demand was not met soon, Mr Pawar said.

Mr Rajiv Rawat, chief prefect of the HNB Garhwal University, accused the district administration of giving disinformation to the government that rehabilitation work had been completed. Over 5000 families of Old Tehri and surrounding villages had given written complaints that they had not been rehabilitated so far, he said. Although the activists merely forced closure of schools in adjoining Koti and Bhagirathpuram today, all offices, including those in New Tehri would be forced closed tomorrow, Mr Rawat said. Lawyers would also abstain from courts in support of the demand.

Mr Manvendra Shah, former MP from Tehri, has urged the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Kalyan Singh, to immediately intervene and halt the shifting of educational institutions from Old Tehri to New Tehri till suitable alternative arrangements were made for children of the nearby villages.

It may be mentioned that the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) plans to get the Old Tehri town evacuated by September so that further construction of the dam could be taken up and the project completed without further delays.

Although the THDC and the government have time and again maintained that all safety measures are being taken against any earthquake, several seismic experts feel that it would be best to abandon the project and tap the potential of the Himalayan rivers through small run of the river schemes.

Tehri town may be vacated this winter

17 June 1999

By R P Nailwal

The Times of India News Service

DEHRA DUN: It's a town waiting to see its end. The sleepy town of Tehri town on the banks of the Bhagirathi river, around which the controversial 2,400 MW Tehri dam is being constructed, is likely to be vacated by the coming winter. This was decided at a special meeting held in Lucknow recently, according to reliable official sources.

At the meeting, senior officials discussed ways and means to ensure the vacation of the town to expedite the ongoing project work which has already been delayed. The Centre seems to be very keen that the town is finally cleared and the displaced people are settled either in the adjoining New Tehri town or the foothills near Rishikesh or Dehra Dun.

The delay has been caused by stauch opposition to the dam's construction by social activists and prominent environmentalists such as Medha Patkar and Sundar Lal Bahuguna. When a big quake hit Garhwal in 1991, they intensified their campaign saying that the construction of such a big dam in the quake-prone area was fraught with grave danger.

Local traders and other residents of the town who have been living there for generations do not wish to leave it, obviously for emotional reasons.

The agitationists have also been arguing that if the the dam is hit by a powerful earthquake, the ensuing flow of water from its reservoir will wash away the downhill major towns of Rishikesh and Hardwar. The latest quake in the hills in March last seems to have helped in hardening their stand.

However, the government and the dam authorities have been trying to allay all their fears on this account. The Centre had at one time even appointed a technical committee to go into the oft-debated safety aspects of the dam to end the controversy regarding the safety of the people.

Even as the government has been defending its case, local anti- dam activists have also been trying to stall the project work on the ground that the government's rehabilitation package for the oustees has been quite insufficient. Over a decade ago, the Centre had rehabilitated some of the Tehri dam oustees at Rishikesh, New Tehri, Bhaniawala and Dehra Dun by giving them plots of land. But by and large, the oustees are not happy with the rehabilitation package.

Thus, the fresh move by the government to displace the people who continue to stay in the town may prove to be a Herculian task.

Tehri residents yet to be rehabilitated

The Times of India News Service, May 21, 1998

DEHRA DUN: As the deadline for the submergence of Tehri township and 102 villages around it draws to a close, over one lakh inhabitants are still awaiting rehabilitation. They have also not received any compensation for the property acquired by the government.

This was stated by minister for hill development Matbar Singh Kandari here on Tuesday. He claimed that 90 per cent of the people supported the multi-purpose Tehri dam project, but they wanted suitable compensation and proper rehabilitation.

Presiding over a meeting of senior officials to assess the progress made in rehabilitating the oustees, Mr Kandari accused the Tehri-Hydro Development Corporation and government officials of neglecting the oustees.

Expressing concern at the plight of those rehabilitated in Doiwala and Raiwala in Dehra Dun district and Pathari in Hardwar district many years ago, he alleged that they were still to get basic amenities like drinking water, fuel and fodder for their cattle. In their homeland in Tehri, these were available free.

Mr Kandhari said the affected families could not be forced to be displaced unless they were properly compensated and satisfactorily rehabilitated.

Chairman-cum-managing director of the Tehri-Hydro Development Corporation N.L. Gupta said one of the major problems in rehabilitating the oustees was the state government's failure to make available 2,500 acres of land for the purpose. He said if the people were not rehabilitated before the onset of the monsoons, their immovable would be submerged by the Bhagirathi.

Reports of crack in Tehri dam cause alarm

By R P Nailwal

The Times of India News Service (April 30, 1998)

DEHRA DUN: Reports that a part of the land adjoining the Tehri dam area is sinking gradually and that a 50-metre-long crack has appeared near the coffer dam site have once again brought to the fore the question whether construction of the 2,400-MW dam is fraught with danger.

The crack, according to the reports, started developing in March.

However, general manager of the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) H C Sharma described the reports appearing in a section of the Press as ``baseless'' and denied that any part of the coffer dam site was either sinking or a crack had appeared at the site. At the same time, a source close to THDC told The Times of India News Service on telephone that ``the matter is being examined''.

The reports have triggered a debate on whether the phenomenon is only of a local nature or related to seismic activity in the Garhwal region. Geologists associated with the dam are said to be studying the crack, according to informed sources.

Those opposing the construction of the mega dam contend that it is being constructed in a seismically active area. They argue that the quake that hit Uttarkashi district in October 1991 also affected the adjoining Tehri district, where the mega dam is being constructed.

Reacting to the reports, former director-general of the Geological Survey of India D P Dhaundiyal said the crack might have appeared due to some constructional lacunae and not because of any seismic activity.``But I have not seen the site,'' he added.

The Garhwal region has experienced frequent tremors since time immemorial, according to experts. Frequent tectonic activity along the outer Himalayan belt, made of fragile rocks along with frequent rainfall have often triggered fluvial action and slope failures, they said. During the past four decades, several major and minor quakes and slope failures have occurred in the region causing a great deal of loss to life and property.

In July 1970, a big slope failure in the Belakuchi area in Chamoli district caused unprecedented floods in Alaknanda the river and led to devastation along its route. In 1978, there was another major land erosion in the same district, and in 1990, there was a sudden rise in the foothill land area at Kinpani near Kotdwar. The land area rose up to 20 metres and caused cracks in the nearby hillocks. Then, another big quake hit the Uttarkashi region, killing about 1,500 people and causing damage to property. In 1994, a case of sudden upthrust of land was noticed in the Mohund forests near Dehra Dun.

While some geologists at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) here and Roorkee University tend to associate these events with larger neo-tectonic activity in the Garhwal region, some others say these events have nothing to do with the seismic activity in the region.

Scientists like Devendra Pal, heading the landslide control division in the WIHG, have even propounded a theory that a particular underground ridge, coming from the Aravalli ranges which goes right up to Harsil area in Uttarkashi district via Rishikesh, is moving in a north-northeast direction towards the Garhwal Himalayas. The movement of this ridge, known as ``Delhi-Harsil-Hardwar ridge'', is now being seen as one of the probable causes for the increased neo-tectonic activity in the lower Garhwal Himalayas.

Other scientists differ and say the landslides and slope failures need not necessarily be associated with the underground seismic activities as being sought to be established by some.

Tehri problem will hound Vajpayee government

The Times of India News Service, March 25, 1998

DEHRA DUN: With the installation of the BJP government at the Centre, a fresh spell of uncertainty looms over the future of the 2400-MW controversial Tehri dam being constructed on the Bhagirathi in Tehri district in the sub- Himalayan Uttarakhand region.

According to observers, so far the BJP-led government's stand on the issue is not clear. However, with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and a section of BJP members joining the anti-dam wagon, the new BJP government may have a hard time in trying to strike a balance between the opponents and supporters of the dam.

The construction of the mega dam project is stiffly being opposed by social activists and environmentalists. The VHP has recently joined the protesters.

Approved in 1972, an estimated sum of Rs 18,000 crore has been spent on this mega-project over the years. The protests against the project started some years after the work began at the site as it was seen as an ``environmental disaster'' by several environmentalists such as Sundar Lal Bhauguna.

During the tenure of the Congress and the United Front governments at the Centre led by P V Narashima Rao and H D Deve Gowda, respectively, work at the dam site came to standstill due to the stiff opposition by from the dam's opponents and the long indefinite fasts observed by Mr Bahuguna.

Mr Bahuguna intensified his campaign against the dam after the earthquake of October, 1991 which hit the Uttarkashi-Tehri region claiming at least 1,500 lives. The environmentalists argued that the dam was being built in a quake-prone area after the displacement of thousands of hill people from the Tehri town.

Both Mr Rao and Mr Deve Gowda were reported to have assured Mr Bahuguna that the Centre would take a fresh look into the whole gamut of problems connected with the construction of the mega dam. In fact, even the then opposition leaders such as George Fernandes and Madhu Dandvate had also met Mr Bahuguna at Tehri. The then Central governments had even ordered stoppage of work at the dam site.

Expert panel studying Tehri dam safety aspects

Date: 29-11-1997 :: Pg: 15 :: Col: e

By Our Special Correspondent (The Hindu)

NEW DELHI, Nov. 28.

After agreeing to halt construction work at Tehri dam site to persuade noted environmentalist Mr. Sunderlal Bahuguna from his indefinite hunger strike, the Government is now examining the relevant scientific and technical reports and other relevant information relating to safety aspects of the dam.

A Group of Experts is yet to submit the conclusion report of its deliberations on the subject.

On November 27, the Union Environment Minister, Prof. Saifuddin Soz, the Minister of State for Power, Prof. Y. K. Alagh, the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Prof. Madhu Dandavate, went to Tehri to persuade Mr. Bahuguna to call off his 56-days- old strike on the assurance that ongoing construction work would be suspended.

The Hanumantha Rao Committee was set up by the Government in September last year to examine the rehabilitation and environmental aspects of Tehri Hydro Electric project.

The committee had submitted its report earlier this month indicting the Government for overlooking several safety aspects in construction of the dam.

Among several recommendations of the committee, much emphasis has also been laid on the social and rehabilitation aspects of the displaced people, the committee has sought to redefine the ``family'' affected by the Tehri Hydro Electric Project by making all sons and unmarried daughters (who attained 18 years of age on July 19, 1990) of fully affected families eligible for revised compensation amounts in lieu of the land.

For each major married son, a grant of Rs. 1,50,000 has been suggested and Rs. 75,000 each for every major unmarried son and major unmarried daughter.

Linking the progress of construction and shifting to house construction assistance to urban land owner families including each major son and major unmarried daughter, allotting one constructed shop on cost to each urban shop owner who was not running shops in lieu of shop structure acquired from him and grant of Rs. 40,000 for each additional shop owned by him, and recognising the rights of people living in villages upstream of Tehri reservoir for drinking and irrigation purposes are some of the other recommendations pertaining to rehabilitation of the affected population.

The major recommendations of the committee on environmental aspects interalia include enhancement of treatment of degraded catchment areas of Tehri project and involving local communities in the catchment area treatment programme, undertaking an additional study of flora and fauna of the region to assess the impact on population and local viability of species, early finalisation of Command Area Development Plan and Disaster Management Plan, creation of indirect employment opportunities for affected population, strengthening institutional mechanisms for rehabilitation, redressal of grievances and monitoring of environmental safeguards.

Indian environmentalist ends 56-day fast over dam project

NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (AFP) - One of India's best-known environmental activists said on Wednesday he was ending a 56-day fast after the government suspended work on a huge dam in an earthquake-prone zone in the Himalayas. The Press Trust of India said Sunderlal Bahuguna, 72, called off his hunger strike in the northern town of Tehri following a meeting with Environment Minister Saifuddin Soz and Energy Minister Y.K. Alagh. Bahuguna said he would end the fast -- during which he lived on fruit juice -- either later Wednesday or on Thursday. Bahuguna has led a long protest against the three-billion-dollar multi-purpose dam, arguing that it will be an ecological disaster. The proposed dam will submerge the town of Tehri, about 300 kilometres (187 miles) northeast of New Delhi, and 112 surrounding villages. Environmentalists say the 260-metre-high (850-foot) rock and earthfill Tehri dam will also destroy fragile ecosystems. Madhu Dandavate, a leading member of India's ruling coalition, said after meeting Bahuguna on Wednesday that work at the dam site had been suspended until proposed talks between the activist and Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral in January. "The question is not of Tehri alone but of saving the Himalayas and we are committed to it," Dandavate said, adding that heavy vehicular traffic would also be suspended at the site. The dam, conceived as one of the world's highest, is located in a region where experts say an earthquake with a magnitude of eight on the Richter scale is highly possible. Backers of the project say several million dollars have been spent on preliminary work, including an alternative township, which would go to waste if the project was scrapped.

Tehri dam: Govt. ignored expert panel views

Date: 25-11-1997 :: Pg: 10 :: Col: a

By Our Special Correspondent (The Hindu)

NEW DELHI, Nov. 24.

Accusing the Government of manipulating the expert committee report to justify continuation of work on the Tehri hydel project, environmentalists and supporters of Mr. Sunderlal Bahuguna, leading the Tehri Bandh Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti, have demanded an immediate stop to the ongoing work.

The Hanumantha Rao Committee had, in its report to the Union Ministry of Power earlier this month, said the construction of the dam was in gross violation of the Environment Protection Act and the environmental clearance requirements laid down by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The activists are angry at the Government's refusal to accept the suggestions of the expert committee and suspend work with immediate effect.

Mr. Bahuguna, who has been on a fast since October 2, said the Hanumanthappa Committee report should be understood properly and taken seriously instead of pushing the work on the project. Overlooking the acts of ``omission and commission'' by the Tehri Hydel Development Corporation and the Power Ministry, would be detrimental to basic issues of equity and sustainability, he added.

Expressing similar views, Mr. H. M. Desard, a former member of the Maharashtra State Planning Board, today demanded a CBI inquiry into various corruption charges made in the report against the project implementation authorities. He said until logical follow-up action was taken on the report by the Government, work should be halted as was done in the case of the Sardar Sarovar Project, at the instance of the Supreme Court though.

The Hanumanthappa Rao Committee report said the project was awarded environmental clearance despite its failure to complete and submit various required studies and action/management plans to the Union Ministry of Environment for approval.

In fact, the report quoted the Secretary (Environment) as saying that the ``decision for conditional clearance to the Tehri project was not taken by the Environment Ministry but at a higher level.''

The committee observed that the project was neither properly assessed from the environmental angle nor properly costed in terms of environmental and rehabilitation requirements before clearance. It categorically says the question of implementation of such a project did not arise when studies and plans had not been undertaken, or completed or approved by the authorities.

The Hanumanthappa Committee recommended that a Disaster Management Plan be first prepared. A comprehensive study on the impact of the project on flora and fauna should be undertaken, the catchment area treatment work should be expedited and proper action should be taken on compensatory afforestation, it said. Proper studies should also be done on the quality of water downstream and contamination of water in the reservoir besides on the impact on downstream ecology, reservoir rim stability, possible waterlogging and salinity in the command area.

Despite such a damaging report, the Government was insisting on going ahead with the project. The Prime Minister, Mr. I. K. Gujral's assurance to Mr. Bahuguna that the Government would take steps to ensure safety of the dam and also improve the rehabilitation package and implement adequate ecological safeguards has had little or no impact.

While Mr. Bahuguna's supporters want the ongoing work totally suspended, the Prime Minister has said work on raising of the dam would be held in abeyance till the year-end even though other mobilisation and preparation work would continue.

Amte, Medha support Bahuguna on Tehri

The Times of India News Service

November 21, 1997

DEHRA DUN: Several political and social activists have demanded that the Union government review the construction of the Tehri dam being built along the Bhagirathi river, even as Chipko leader, Sunder Lal Bahuguna, entered the 50th day of his protest fast against the construction of the dam on Thursday. His condition is said to be deteriorating day by day.

Extending their support to Mr Bahuguna, these leaders, including Medha Patkar, Baba Amte, H.M. Desarda, Nirmala Deshpande and others have sent messages to the fasting leader in Tehri.

In June last year, the then Deve Gowda government had appointed a committee to look into the environmental and rehabilitation dimensions directly related to the construction of the 2,400 MW dam. The committee is understood to have already submitted its report to Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral. Mr Deve Gowda had appointed the committee after Mr Bahuguna had given up his fast in Delhi following an assurance that the Centre would look into his demands.

According to sources close to the fasting Chipko leader, Mr Bahuguna wants an ``immediate stoppage of blasting at the dam site till the announcement of the Supreme Court decision''. But the Union government's emissary, Y.K. Alagh, minister of state for energy, who was in Tehri recently, was reportedly able to assure him only about not increasing the height of the dam and stopping the work till December 31 next. Mr Bahuguna is said to have declined to accept this offer.

Mr Bahuguna has been opposing the construction of the dam on the ground that besides displacing the people of Tehri town and its adjoining areas, it will eventually prove disastrous as it is being built in a quake-prone area. He intensified his campaign after an earthquake hit Uttarkashi and Tehri districts in October 1991.

Bahuguna rejects PM's package

TEHRI, Nov. 20 ((PTI))

Eminent environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna today rejected Prime Minister I. K. Gujral's offer to stop work on raising of the Tehri Dam till the year end and said the fast, which entered the 50th day, would continue.

Dismissing Mr Gujral's offer to keep work on raising of the dam in abeyance, Mr Bahuguna, in a letter to the Prime Minister, said, "It seems that you have been misinformed about the work on the project site. The question of raising the height of the dam does not arise since this has never started."

Demanding complete stoppage of work on the project, the Chipko leader said, "I am sure you will consider my request to keep all engineering activities on the dam site suspended till the Supreme Court gives its decision."

The Government had earlier expressed its willingness to keep in abeyance the work on raising of the Tehri Dam till the end of the year but said the other preparatory work on the site, like rock blasting, would continue.

In a letter to Mr Bahuguna, Mr Gujral had said that the raising of the dam would be kept m abeyance until Dec. 31, while other mobilisation and preparation work on the dam would continue.

The Government had also communicated its willingness to request the apex court for the early disposal of the pending writ petitions against the dam.

Panel wants Tehri Dam halted

Lucknow, Nov. 18 (The Telegraph)

The Hanumantha Committee wants work on the controversial Tehri dam to be stopped immediately. The dam is being built in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand.

The 10-member committee, set up to assess the environmental and rehabilitation aspects of the project, which was handed over to the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) in 1989, said the ministry of environment and forests had never cleared the project. But even as the committee was working on its report, a Rs 900-crore contract for the construction of the main dam was finalised.

The Hanumantha Rao Com-mittee, in its report submitted to Prime Minister, Mr I.K. Gujral late last week, came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government for allowing the project to carry on without a 'Disaster Management Plan'.(DMP)

The government has been embarrassed by the report. Only a couple of days ago, the chief minister, Mr Kalyan Singh, had said the "dam was essential for the benefit of farmers ".

One of the team members, Mr Sekhar Singh, said: "The ministry of environment and forests had stipulated that construction could not go on without submission of the DMP. Since the DMP, supposed to have been submitted by March 31, 1991, has not yet been submitted, that condition has not been met."

The report says "pending finalisation of the DMP ... construction work on the dam should be stopped... Any activity which would affect the flora and fauna of the region should be suspended immediately".

The Hanumantha Rao panel was set up on June 25, 1996, after noted environmentalist, Mr Sunderlal Bahuguna, agreed to give up his fast in protest against the project. Mr Rao is a Planning Commission member.

Neither the Centre nor the Uttar Pradesh government were willing to comment. A spokes-man of the ministry of environment in Delhi said he did not want to comment "at this stage".

principal secretary of the state environment department said he had not seen the report.

Bahuguna, still on an indefinite fast in Tehri Garhwal, has criticised the report, despite its anti-dam stance. He said: "It is a cruel document because it does not recommend a humane rehabilitation policy."

Centre succumbed to pressure on Tehri

TEHRI (UNI)

November 9, 1997

Eminent environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna today alleged that the Centre had succumbed to the pressure of some influential people by allowing the work on the Tehri Hydel Project to continue despite its promise to the country.

Talking to newspersons here, Mr Bahuguna said he had written to former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda about the kickbacks received by some officials and politicians in the project, but it seemed that for the present rulers these people count more than environmental concerns and interests of the masses.

Mr Bahuguna had named 21 officials as the beneficiaries of kickbacks in the project. Name of late Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Vir Bahadur Singh and Lanco Compnay, formed by the four politicians of Andhra Pradesh, also figured in the letter.

He quoted from the biography of Seshan "An intimate story", written by K Govindan Kutty in which the former chief election commissioner said that the project was the gold mines for some people.

Mr Seshan, in his capacity as environment secretary clearly favoured abandonment of the project and writing off all the money sunk into the project.

To a question, Mr Bahuguna said he had told joint secretary in the Power Ministry that he would not negotiate with anyone unless the ongoing work in the Tehri project was halted and stay taken by the government in various cases in the Supreme Court on the plea that the government had already appointed a committee to review various aspects of the project was not taken back.

He said if the government wanted to settle the issue outside the judiciary, Mr Justice Krishna Iyer should be given the responsibility to look after all the aspects of the project. Mr Iyer was deputed by former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao to mediate between the government and Mr Bahuguna in june 1995.

Mr Bahuguna said he had already told Power Minister Y K Alagh that the findings of Hanumantha Rao Committee, appointed to review various aspects of the project, would not be acceptable to him as the committee as full of officials from the Tehri Hydel Development Corporation (THDC).

The noted environmentalist said it was a false propaganda that the project will benefit local people, as its electricity distribution centre would be in Meerut. He said at a time when water problems between various states, including Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, had not been solved, what was the guarantee that certain share of water from the project will be given to the local people.

Mr Bahuguna has been on fast for 39 days against the starting of the work in the project.

Earlier addressing workers of Himalaya Bachchao Andolan yesterday, Mr Bahuguna said the project would not prove detrimental to the people of Tehri only, but to the whole nation. Due to sensitive geo-political region, hostile countries would try their best to damage the dam, he said.

Pacifying his supporters, who called upon him to give up his fast, he said, "if my life had not stopped the work on dam so far, my death would do so."

Bahuguna's fast enters 35th day

TEHRI (PTI)

November 5, 1997

Eminent environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna entered 35th day of what he calls his 'fast and prayer` to highlight dangers of ongoing Tehri dam project in its present form posing threat to lives of millions."

"It is like daylight murder of democracy and justice to keep the nation in the dark about issues associated with the Tehri dam project for such a long time," Mr Bahuguna told PTI today.

The 72-year-old Chipko leader, who started his latest fast, 4th in a series since 1992, on October two last, said "for me this is also a form of repentance, because on June 25, 1996, the then prime minister Mr H D Deve Gowda, the highest representative of government, had in the presence of many eminent personalities promised an independent review of the problems associated with the project within three months as also solutions to them."

Mr Bahuguna alleged that the former prime minister had failed to keep promises made to him on 72nd day of his fast last year. "Mr Gowda had identified himself with my concern about the dying Himalayas for which I had urged a policy based on national consensus."

He said he waited with patience but when on December 14 last year Mr Gowda went back on his promise to make the "rehabilitation and environment committee" set up in the aftermath of his last year`s fast independent, "the deceptive designs of state were exposed."

'Govt. policies affecting Himalayan belt'

Date: 09-06-1997 :: Pg: 15 :: Col: a

By Our Special Correspondent (The Hindu)

NEW DELHI, June 8, 1997

The Centre's delay in evolving a national consensus on Himalayan policy has led to the social activist and environmentalist, Mr. Sunderlal Bahuguna, launching a fresh round of agitation at Tehri from June 5 - World Environment Day.

Besides organising a mass people's awakening campaign, which will go on till June 15, he also began a period of fast to pressure the Government into paying attention to his appeal to save the mountains.

Mr. Bahuguna said in a statement that instead of formulating a policy for the benefit of hill people, the Government has allowed speeding up of construction work at the Tehri dam site.

``Disastrous projects have been started in the Himalayan belt without properly understanding and assessing issues like dam safety, quality of Ganga water after impoundment, impact on health of people, security of life and property of the people in the densely populated Indo- Gangetic belt, the economic viability of the project...,'' he said, regretting that the two experts' committees appointed by former Prime Minister, Mr. H. D. Deve Gowda, in June last year had failed to adhere to the deadline of three months for submitting their final report. ``Instead of three months we waited for a year and the delay has only given rise to more ill-feeling and creation of more anti-people projects.''

Mr. Bahuguna further said that through non-violent forms of protest the hill people have tried to impress upon the Government the dangers and risks involved in granting environmental clearance to the Tehri dam project. But the Government appears insensitive, he added.