Shimla, Feb 9
Number of power projects vulnerable to disaster, stated 13 NGO of Himachal Pradesh. Aftermath of Uttrakhand flood of Feb 7 that number of Civil rights groups and Environmental NGOs are posing hard questions to state authorities over their relentless setting of new power projects alleging that most of them are prone to natural disasters.
13 organizations in the state in a collective statement said on Tuesday that many operational as well as planned hydro-power projects in Himachal Pradesh are located in areas highly vulnerable to disasters such as landslides and floods.
“Most of the projects that are to come up in Himachal are planned in greater and trans Himalayan regions which are ecologically fragile and vulnerable to climatic changes,” they stated. These projects are proposed in the upper Sutlej valley in Kinnaur and Spiti and the Chandrabhaga or Chenab basin in Lahaul, where tribal communities are resisting them
tooth and nail. These are also geologically unstable terrains prone to earthquakes and avalanches,” the statement said.
It said that hydel projects worth more than 10,000 megawatts have already been built in Himachal, but they have “changed land use, gobbled forests and farms, caused landslides and soil erosion, and impacted the riverine ecosystems”.
tooth and nail. These are also geologically unstable terrains prone to earthquakes and avalanches,” the statement said.
It said that hydel projects worth more than 10,000 megawatts have already been built in Himachal, but they have “changed land use, gobbled forests and farms, caused landslides and soil erosion, and impacted the riverine ecosystems”.
They added that a study by researchers from the University of Potsdam in Germany analysed 273 hydropower projects in the Indian, Nepal and Bhutan Himalayas and found that around a quarter of them are likely to face severe damage from quake-triggered landslides.
The statement was issued by Himdhara Environment Research and Action Collective; Himalayan Students Ensemble; Himalaya Bachao Samiti, Chamba; Himalaya Niti Abhiyan; Him Lok Jagriti Manch, Kinnaur; Nagrik Adhikar Manch, Kangra; People’s campaign for socio-economic equity in the Himalaya; Save Lahaul Spiti, Lahaul; Spiti Civil Society, Spiti; Sutra, Himachal Pradesh; Towerline Shoshit Jagrukta Manch; Zilla Van Adhikar Samiti; and Sirmaur Van Adhikar Manch.
The statement was issued by Himdhara Environment Research and Action Collective; Himalayan Students Ensemble; Himalaya Bachao Samiti, Chamba; Himalaya Niti Abhiyan; Him Lok Jagriti Manch, Kinnaur; Nagrik Adhikar Manch, Kangra; People’s campaign for socio-economic equity in the Himalaya; Save Lahaul Spiti, Lahaul; Spiti Civil Society, Spiti; Sutra, Himachal Pradesh; Towerline Shoshit Jagrukta Manch; Zilla Van Adhikar Samiti; and Sirmaur Van Adhikar Manch.