Caught between SC & Centre, 24 Uttarakhand hydel projects stuck on paper after 2013 floods
Despite 31 Supreme Court hearings and 3 government committee reports, a clear policy on hydroelectricity projects (HEPs) in Uttarakhand has remained elusive.
Bhadra Sinha 16 February, 2021 8:15 am IST Text Size:
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New Delhi: The 7 February Uttarakhand flood left two hydropower projects severely damaged and put the spotlight on such projects in the fragile Himalayan terrain as deliberations started afresh on avoiding and mitigating flooding disasters in the state.
Hydropower projects in the state became a subject of discussion in light of the 2013 Kedarnath tragedy. In 2014, the Supreme Court put on hold 24 proposed plants in the Alaknanda and Bhagirath river basins of Uttarakhand and asked the government to outline a policy regarding hydropower projects. Seven years later, the projects are still hanging fire.
Uttarakhand High Court dismisses petitions filed by hydropower companies
According to the case, the Uttar Pradesh government conceptualised the Srinagar Hydro Electric Project in 1981 with a capacity of 330 MW
The Uttarakhand
High Court has dismissed petitions filed by various hydro-power project companies against the Uttarakhand government, upholding the water tax on hydropower generation.
A single-judge bench of Justice Lokpal Singh passed this verdict on Friday (February 12). According to the case, the Uttar Pradesh government conceptualised the Srinagar Hydro Electric Project in 1981 with a capacity of 330 MW. The project development was entrusted to the Irrigation department of the erstwhile UP Government and was planned to be developed with World Bank funds.