Rawat welcomes Centre's view on stalled six hydel projects

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today welcomed the Centre endorsing the view that six of the 24 stalled hydel projects of Uttarakhand were not causing any harm to the environment.
Several experts and a number of government and independent agencies have endorsed the view that hydro-electricity was clean power and hydel projects in the hill state had no role to play in the 2013 disaster, Rawat told reporters here.
The Union Government has recently filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying that six of the 24 stalled hydel porjects of Uttarakhand are not harmful to environment.
A national consensus must be evolved hydel projects in the country.

Policies applicable to other states should apply to Uttarakhand also.
If Uttarakhand is stopped from using its natural resources it should also be compensated for the losses it incurs thereby, the Chief Minister said.
On the sacred portals of Kedarnath scheduled to be opened on April 24, Rawat said devotees in the country and abroad were eagerly waiting for this.
President of India Pranab Mukherjee an other dignitaries will be invited to attend the ceremonious opening of the portals of the Himalayan shrine this year, he said.