Govt to discontinue key three hydro projects on Ganga

The government on Monday decided to discontinue three hydro projects on the river Ganga. While work is yet to begin on the 381-Mw Bhaironghati and 480-Mw Pala Maneri projects, considerable work has already been done at NTPC’s 600-Mw Loharinag Pala.

Besides, the 135-km stretch between Gaumukh and Uttarkashi was declared as an eco-sensitive zone. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday met officials from different ministries and the Planning Commission to discuss the future of these hydro projects and various programmes related to these.

“The fate of the Loharinag Pala project is now in the hands of the finance ministry. The meeting was good and was chaired by the PM,” said an environment ministry official present at the meeting, which took place at the PM’s residence and lasted for an hour and 40 minutes.

“Two decisions were broadly taken on Monday — on the discontinuation of the three projects and declaring the 135-km stretch between Gaumukh and Uttarkashi as an eco-sensitive zone,” said another official.

The agenda of on Monday’s meeting revolved around points like confirming the decision to discontinue the hydro electric projects, the Ganga Basin Management Plan and the World Bank loan that the Ministry of Environment and Forests is negotiating and the continuation of the meeting held with the PM last year as he heads the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA). Also, the environment ministry is negotiating a loan of about $1billion with the World Bank for Ganga cleaning and it estimates it will require $4 billion to implement the project.

The meeting was attended Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, among others.