Villagers blame underground power house in Chamoli for landslides

The 400-MW Vishnuprayag hydro-electric project on the Alaknanda river in Chamoli district has been shut down after landslides...

The 400-MW Vishnuprayag hydro-electric project on the Alaknanda river in Chamoli district has been shut down after landslides in Chain village located above the underground power house. The cave-in has raised questions about the feasibility of massive constructions in the fragile upper Himalayan region.

8220;Power production has been stopped after a cave-in damaged a transmission tower,8221; Chamoli District Magistrate D S Garbayal told The Indian Express over telephone. Power transmission has been suspended since the wires are dangling dangerously from the damaged tower. According to the district authorities, power production has been reduced by half since the landslides hit the village.

A team of scientists from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology here and Geological Section and Disaster Mitigation cells of the state Government visited the affected village on Tuesday and tried to ascertain the possible causes of cave-ins in the area. 8220;We will try to ascertain the causes of water leakage that has resulted in sub-surface soil caving in,8221; said Dr Piyush Rautela, Director of the Disaster Mitigation Cell and one of the members of the scientific team.

With more than 30 houses being declared unsafe, the 125 families in Chain village are now facing displacement. 8220;We are trying to shift the affected families to the residential colony of the power project staff,8221; said Garbayal.

Residents claimed their village started sinking due to the widespread use of explosives to build the underground power house. They alleged the explosives used to dig the 12-km-long underground tunnel and the six-storeyed power house just beneath the village is behind the landslides.

8220;A lot of explosives were used in the construction of the project, that has now started showing,8221; said Partap Lal, the Pardhan of Chain village.

The villagers, annoyed by their plight, have not yet allowed the authorities to repair the tower. However, the company running the Vishnuprayag project denies any link between the landslides and digging of tunnels.

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A debate has also started on the feasibility of tunnels for hydro-electric projects in the state. After visiting the village, veteran environmentalist Chandi Parsad Bhatt said the landslides were the 8220;first shock8221; of the unwanton planning in the upper Himalayas. 8220;I had warned the Union Government against such projects in the fragile higher Himalayan regions,8221; he said.