Damaging findings

According to the committee report, work on the Tehri project was going on even before obtaining clearances to several environmental reports submitted by the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation THDC. Ministry of Environment and Forest was supposed toapprove the environmental reports.

8220;It appears to the Committee that neither the Ministry nor the THDC made the required efforts to ensure that the environmental conditionalities were fulfilled. The Committee is concerned that despite so many years having passed the Ministry and the THDC could not resolve the outstanding issues.8221; the report stated.

The report pointed out that no study was conducted out to examine potential health hazards of the Tehri reservoir. 8220;Considering that the reservoir of the Tehri project is below 1,000 m altitude, there is great likelihood that it would promote the breeding of vectors, unless adequate preventive measures are taken,8221; the report said while adding that river valley projects have been linked to diseases like schistosomiasis, malaria, filaria and dengue.

The Committee also noted that the concerned authorities did not carry any comprehensive study on fauna and flora of the Tehri area. Only endangered species, like leopard, leopard cat, the Indian sparrow hawk andthe ringtailed or Pallas8217;s fishing eagle have been listed. But no efforts were made to 8220;focus on the impact on populations and on local viability of species, and not just on rare or endangered species8221;, the report said.

8220;The threat to breeding habitats, especially fish-breeding habitats due to the Tehri dam, has not been assessed. It is especially important as, according to a Zoological Survey of India report, whenever a dam is constructed the fish fauna of that river is harmed tremendously as generally no proper arrangement is provided for free up and down movement of the fish,8221; the report said.

On the rehabilitation aspect of the Tehri project, the committee recommended new definition of family to bring more individuals under the rehabilitation provisions. It read : 8220;All the sons and unmarried daughters of the entitled fully affected families who have attained the age of 18 years as on July 19, 1990 are recognised as independent families and will be eligible for rehabilitation provisions.8221;

Over25,000 families in the rural and urban Tehri will be affected by submergence of old Tehri town and several villages. According to the Committee, family and cut-off date are two critical factors in facilitating proper rehabilitation. 8220;Cut-off date is the most significant problem which needs to be tackled, as it would decide the number of additional individuals becoming eligible to receive rehabilitation benefits,8221; the report added.

The Committee also pointed out that the project-affected persons, who have been allotted alternative land, are prohibited to sell it. 8220;This has caused hardship in meeting expenses related to marriage, death, disease and other occurrences in a few families. Thus families with land may be permitted to draw an advance up to Rs 1 lakh to be adjusted from compensation money,8221; the report stated.