Cong MP to raise issue of people to be displaced by dam

Congress MP from Uttarakhand Mahendra Singh Mahra said today the party will strongly raise the issue of people who would be displaced by the proposed Pancheshwar dam in Rajya Sabha during the winter session.
"The public hearing of the proposed project was completed in a hurry giving no chance to the affected people to express their point of view on rehabilitation," he said at a press conference here.
The Rajya Sabha MP alleged that the Modi government seemed in a hurry to construct the project without taking into account the plight of those to be displaced.
The public hearing was carried out in a highly unmethodical manner in Pithoragarh, Almora and Champawat districts where the affected population resides, he said.

Emphasising that the Pancheshwar dam will change the geography and climatic conditions of three districts forever, he said any action plan on the project must take into account the point of view of people to be affected by it.
Meanwhile, Congress workers, led by PCC chief state spokesperson Mathura Dutt Joshi, today visited the Pancheshwar valley villages to know the views of the people in affected villages.
"Most people in Pancheshwar valley villages are averse to construction of the dam. However, in the same breath they say if it is essential to have the project, the size of the dam should be reduced so that the number of people to be affected by it is not that big," Joshi said.

The people are in favour of run of the river projects in the river Kali as such projects do not lead to a big rehabilitation problem, he said.