Govt apathy fanning protests against hydro projects: The Indian Express

February 5, 2015 A panel of experts appointed by the Himachal Pradesh government has said that popular opposition to large hydel power projects on the Sutlej is being fanned by the establishment’s “indifference” to the problems of the people. The panel has rejected the conclusions of a report prepared earlier for the union government, which […]

PRESS NOTE 12th December 2014: People of Kinnaur challenge Satluj basin impact study as “biased” and “pro-hydro” : Panel silenced by questions raised at Public Consultation

On 8th and 9th December 2014, the Directorate of Energy organised Public Consultations in Rekong Peo and Pooh (Kinnaur District) on the Cumulative Environment Impact Assessment Study conducted for the Satluj River Basin. The study, which had the mandate to assess the over all cumulative impacts of the ongoing and proposed hydropower development in the […]

DISAPPEARING LIFELINES OF INDIA’s HYDRO STATE

The Himdhara Team put together a photo exhibition for the India River’s Week 2014 titled ‘Disappearing Lifelines of India’s Hydro State’. The exhibition highlights the impacts of operations, under-construction and planned Hydro projects in the five river basins of Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh is India’s largest hydropower producing state and has a planned potential of […]

30th November 2014:National Green Tribunal, A Space for Environmental Justice that needs to be utilised Himachal’s Environment Issues

In a half day program organised today in Shimla by environmental groups Himdhara Collective and LIFE (Legal Initiative for Environment and Forests, environmentalists including lawyers, activists and concerned citizens of Shimla deliberated on the role of the National Green Tribunal in the context of Himachal’s environment issues. Supreme Court Lawyer Rahul Chaudhary and High Court […]

सतलुज घाटी के सामुहिक पर्यावरण प्रभाव आंकलन हेतू किये गये जन-परार्मशों पर एक नज़र

हिमाचल प्रदेश सरकार ने पर्यावरण व वन मंत्रालय के निर्देश पर 2013-2014 में जल विद्युत परियोजनाओं के प्रभावों का आंकलन करने के लिये भारतीय वानिकी अनुसंधान एवं शिक्षा परिषद् (ICFRE),देहरादून को नियुक्त किया। हिमाचल प्रदेश में सबसे पहले सतलुज घाटी का सामुहिक पर्यावरण प्रभाव आंकलन किया गया।   आंकलन के अंतिम प्रक्रिया के दौरान किन्नौर व […]

Photo Essay : When mountains are hollowed …

A Photo Essay on the impacts of blasting and tunneling for hydroprojects (Photos by Sumit Mahar) Tunneling for hydropower project using the blasting technique can be compared to mining or quarrying. It has a series of direct and indirect impacts which have already been documented. Among the most serious impacts of tunneling that are likely to […]

Press Release: All Women’s Independent fact finding team visits Holi. Expresses solidarity with local struggle

17th April 2014 Chamba An independent all women’s fact finding team visited Holi village to be affected by GMR’s 180 MW Hydro power project on 16 and 17th April 2014. The team comprising of Nandini Rao from Women against sexual violence and state repression, Sridevi Panicker, an independent Delhi based lawyer, Sarvesh, a senior freelance […]

Run Into The River

Now in a dismantled state, the 4.8 MW Aleo II hydro project, situated between Aleo and Prini village in Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh made it to the news recently, but for wrong reasons. The reservoir of the newly built Aleo II hydro project on the Aleo nallah, a tributary of the Beas river, collapsed […]

Dec 7, 2013 Public Uproar at Satluj Basin Consultation

SHIMLA: Environmentalists denounce the process as an ill-timed eyewash; Force Government to conduct Consultations at Tehsil levelA public consultation on the Cumulative Environment Impact study of the Satluj river basin conducted today at Jhakhri today saw uproarious scenes with the project affected people of the Satluj valley and environmental organisations vehemently protesting against the conduct […]

Large hydropower Projects, larger empty promises

The South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People has been studying the generation performance of large hydroprojects across the country in general and in the Himalayan river basins in particular. Their recent studies of the Generation of Performance in the Chenab and Beas River Basins also show diminishing generation for the period of last […]