Project setback as GVK plan to relocate Dhari Devi spurned

The GVK group's attempt to commission 330-Mw Srinagar hydel project in the Pauri district of Uttarakhand has suffered a setback with the Centre's refusal to allow the company to uplift the Dhari Devi Temple. This was despite protests by locals in support of the dam.

"The Centre has put fresh restrictions on the company's plans to uplift the temple by raising certain doubts on the modified plan," said the sub-divisional magistrate, Srinagar, Raza Abbas.

Locals protest Uma visit
On the other side, amid tight security, BJP leader Uma Bharti, with party workers, faced the ire of the locals, when she was going to perform puja at the temple on Monday. Locals waved black flags and stopped Bharti from entering the temple.

A central monitoring committee had recently visited the dam site at Srinagar and held talks with a cross-section of the locals there. The Centre later put restrictions on the company.

GVK claimed the project on the river Alaknanda was in the final stages. It had missed the 2012 deadline.

Last year, the state drinking water minister, Mantri Prasad Naithani, claimed temple would not be allowed to come in the way of the project, following an assurance from the prime minister. Nainthani had observed a one-day fast at New Delhi on July 10, seeking early completion of the project, along with other hydel projects.

A BJP delegation under L K Advani had sought the prime minister's intervention to save the temple.

Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), a voluntary organisation fighting for hydro projects in the state, has requested the BJP to reconsider its decision. 

"'We request the BJP not to indulge in anti- development activities,'' said Avdhash Kaushal, chairperson.

''When elections are near, they start raising the issue of Ram Mandir, Ganga and temple and try unsuccessfully to mislead people.''