Him Dhara

Report questions ADB funded projects under the 'Himachal Clean Energy Development Programme'.

• ADB loans for four hydroprojects at eco-fragile zones
• Livelihood concerns and environmental issues un-addressed
• Section 17/4 – Urgency clause being used by HPPCL for forced acquisition of land
• Poor EIA reports and non compliance to environmental norms

Recently, a Public Hearing for the World Bank funded Luhri Hydro Electric had to be cancelled after public protests making it clear that the environmental and social impacts of Hydropower projects as well as the increasing gap between their promise and performance, especially in the Himalayan region have become issues of serious concern. And yet these projects continue to be promoted in the garb of renewable and clean energy. So much so that governments are borrowing millions of rupees from international banks and financial institutions to fund these so called 'green' projects.The four ADB financed hydro power projects being constructed by HPPCL include the 195 MW Integrated Kashang Stage I, II and III and the 402 MW Shongtong-Karccham in Kinnaur. The other two projects are the 111 MW Sawara-Kuddu hydropower projects in Shimla district and the 100 MW Sainj hydropower project in Kullu District.

This report by Him Dhara, an environmental research and action collective, deals with the Asian Development Bank financed hydropower projects in Himachal Pradesh, which are leading to obstruction of the rivers and their consequent disappearance for harnessing energy and making ‘judicious’ use of the water. Within the hydro sector the attention has turned to the Indian Himalayan region which is estimated to have seventy nine per cent of the total hydropower potential of the country.

The technology of ‘run of the river’ (ROR) used to tap “the flow of rivers” in high gradient zones to generate power has given impetus to setting up of hydro-projects in the Himalayan states. In India, the mountainous region of the Himalayas offered the “perfect setting” for such projects, with the availability of several flowing water sources that could be tapped before they reached the plains. Of the Himalayan states, after Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh is second in line with a hydropower potential of about 21000 MW. The installed capacity has increased twenty fold (from 326 MW to 6370 MW) in the last ten years indicating the frenzied pace of hydropower development in the state.