Panel to look into Bhagirathi projects

The Uttarakhand High Court on Monday asked the newly-constituted Ganga River Basin Authority to set up an expert committee to decide the fate of the three key hydel projects on river Bhagirathi.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice VK Gupta and Justice VK Bist, however, said the authority was free to resume the work on these projects if it thinks such decision was in public interest.

While the 480-Mw Pala Maneri and the 381-Mw Bhaironghati are being developed by Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited, the 600 Mw Lohari Nagpala is being constructed by NTPC. A total investment of approximately Rs 8,000 crore is proposed in these three projects.

The high court asked the authority to constitute the committee comprising experts within four weeks. The committee would take two months to prepare its report on the environmental impact and other concerns regarding the projects.

The Uttarakhand government last year suspended the construction of Pala Maneri and Bhaironghati following agitation by environmentalist GD Agrawal and other social activists.

While the construction work on the Bhaironghati and Pala Maneri remained suspended, NTPC resumed the work on Lohari Nagpala in February this year following the relief by the high court. Earlier, the Centre had suspended the work of Lohari Nagpala too on environmental issues.

“Now it is up to the Centre to decide the future of the three projects,” said Pallavi Bahuguna, the petitioner of RLEK, a Dehra Dun-based NGO, which was seeking the early completion of the three projects.

Significantly, NTPC had already invested Rs 450 crore in the Lohari Nagpala project with contracts of headrace tunnel, barrage and powerhouse already being awarded to various private companies.