Fresh green nod for Uttarakhand hydro project damaged in 2013 floods hinges on wildlife and forest clearances

“Vegetative cover and forests being a prime issue due to their predominant presence, any decision on Environment Clearance will heavily hinge on the forest clearance (FC) and National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) clearance,” the panel noted in its September 27 meeting, as per the minutes.

Envisaged as a run-of-the-river project, it will draw water from the Mandakini, a tributary of the Alaknanda, which is one of the headwaters of the Ganga. It is the first hydropower dam located downstream of Kedarnath.

The project suffered extensive damage during the 2013 floods, which were triggered by a cloudburst and subsequent glacial lake outburst. The dam structure was compromised, the reservoir area became filled with debris, and machinery was washed away. In 2021, the central government recommended the resumption of work on seven under-construction hydropower projects in Uttarakhand, with Phata Byung being one of them. Other notable projects include Tapovan Vishnugad (520 MW), Vishnugad Pipalkoti (444 MW) and Singoli Bhatwari (99 MW).

The Expert Appraisal Committee on river valley and hydroelectric projects, one of the 11 sectoral panels responsible for granting prior environmental approvals, gave preliminary permission for the hydropower project in April this year. A fresh application for environmental approval was submitted to the environment ministry after Lanco Infratech, the previous project proponent, went into liquidation.

Three members of the expert panel, officials from Mandakini Jal Urja Private Ltd, an official from the environment ministry’s regional office in Dehradun and the divisional forest officer of Rudraprayag were part of the team that conducted the site visit, according to official records.

The expert panel directed the project proponent to carry out new baseline studies to confirm species diversity and assess any changes, including potential reductions due to increased human activity and pollution in the upper stretches around the proposed reservoir. The project is located along the Kedarnath temple pilgrimage route.

During the visit to the upper catchment area, the committee noted that the project dam site is situated close to glacial lakes near Kedarnath, making it vulnerable to glacial lake outburst floods.

“A total of 24 glacial lakes have been identified in the vicinity of the project site, with 6 of these lakes classified as critical due to their potential to trigger floods,” the committee said.

“Detailed study shall be carried out in terms of population to be affected during disaster such as caused in 2013, time to be taken to evacuate, plan shall be prepared for drill in every six months. A fresh socio-cultural-economic study should be conducted with the help of local institutes/some reputed institute or to understand the present scenario as compared to 2013,” the committee added in its recommendations.

The committee observed during its visit that the foundation up to the riverbed has been constructed, with exposed steel rods visible from the concrete foundation.

“It was noted that many damaged vehicles/equipment are currently lying in the river/stream. It was informed that these are property of earlier contractor who were involved and had been left during floods and the same has not been removed since then. It was advised to project proponent to approach State Government to remove this immediately to further avoid the blockage in the stream,” the committee said in its site visit report.