5 Chamba panchayats relent on Bajoli project location

Chamba Deputy Commissioner Divesh Kumar,who presided over the public hearing — a mandatory requirement of the environment impact assessment under provisions of the Environment Protection Act 1986 — said whatever objections a few people raised against the change of the site were duly recorded. “But,there was practically no opposition as the people looked quite convinced,” he said.

“The company agreed to build a 13-kilometre road from the dam site to the power house of the project,train 120 local youth at industrial training institutes,ensure posting of a gynaecologist and a physician at the local health centre and take up other welfare projects.

All this will be in addition to what the company had otherwise promised to do for the affected families,” Divesh Kumar told The Indian Express.

He said proceedings of the public hearing had already been forwarded to the Himachal Pradesh Pollution Control Board (HPPCB) for necessary action. This paves the way for the company to move faster on execution of the project allotted in 2007.

Environmentalists,who had earlier written to the DC,asking to postpone the public hearing as most of the locals had migrated to Baijnath area in Kangra,term the hearing as “farce”. They said most of the people,who attended the hearing,were especially ferried there.

“We have decided to wait and watch how things shape up in the next few weeks. If the locals do not come out against this,we will stay away from the scene,” said Rahul Saxena,a Palampur-based environmentalist.

Earlier,Himachal Pradesh suffered a big jolt after the forest and environment ministry turned down diversion of land at Renuka Dam and the Environment Appellate Tribunal quashed approval for a mega cement plant proposed at Karsog.

Mangni Ram,a Block Development Committee member,said there were other options open for the people to oppose the company’s move to change the site,“which is without justification and could cause heavy damage to the environment and water sources”. “When the company has been allotted a site after a thorough assessment by the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board,why this change?” Ram asked.

In the earlier hearing held in April 2010,all five panchayats had turned down the plea to grant in-principle approval to shift the project site,saying it would result in serious environmental degradations.

The right bank of the river has a barren land and was thus more appropriate for the project’s location.