Uttarakhand floods not 'act of god': NGT

Rejecting GVK Group firm Alaknanda Hydro Power Company's contention that the 2013 cloudburst and floods in Uttarakhand was an "act of god", the National Green Tribunal has directed it to pay a compensation of Rs 9.26 crore to the persons affected by the disaster.
The green panel held the company liable for lack of proper care in storing muck from a construction project, which allowed the material to flow during the floods to the Srinagar town of the Pauri Garhwal district in June 2013.
It directed Alaknanda Hydro Power to deposit Rs 9,26,42,795 within 30 days as compensation with the Emergency Relief Fund Authority, which should be paid to the victims of the disaster.

"An act of god provides no excuse unless it is so unexpected that no reasonable human foresight could be presumed to anticipate the occurrence, having regard to the conditions of time and place known to be prevailing....We, therefore, reject the plea of the respondent no. 1 that the damage caused to the residential area was the result of 'Act of God'," a bench headed by Justice U D Salvi said.
While one per cent of the amount is to be remitted to the Registrar of the NGT under the provisions of the 2011 National Green Tribunal Rules, the remaining amount is to be distributed by the District Magistrate of Pauri after verifying the claims.

"The human habitation was affected due to the silt and the muck. Going by the geochemical analysis, the muck that was found was about 30 per cent. This certainly is a footprint of the involvement of the respondent no 1 (company) in the occurrence resulting in damage caused," the bench said.

The NGT held that it is undisputed that 2013 floods were due to cloudburst in the upper reaches of river Alaknanda near Kedarnath, unlike the floods in 1894 and 1970 as per a report published by Ministry of Environment and Forests.
"However, it was within the knowledge of Alaknanda Hydro Power Co Ltd that the project is situated in geologically sensitive area of Himalayas, where cloudburst is not a rare phenomena and, though the environment clearance did not mandate plan for muck disposal, MoEF has sounded an alarm as regards the muck disposal vide direction dated June 30, 2011.

The judgement came on a plea filed by Srinagar Bandh
Aapda Sangharsh Samiti and one Vimal Bhai, convenor of Matu Jansangthan, seeking compensation for damages suffered by their members and for restoration of the area.
The petitioners claimed that Alaknanda Hydro Power Ltd had inappropriately dumped large quantity of muck generated from the construction of the project just after the gates of the dams, without taking necessary measures.
According to the applicants, due to the heavy rains between June 16-17, 2013, the reservoir of the project was filled up and, with the dam gates being kept closed, led to creation of a huge reservoir of water.

The opening of the gates led to a massive flow of water suddenly sweeping away the muck dumped on the river body and carrying it to the villages and the already flooded areas.
Srinagar town was hit by the cloudburst causing wide- spread flooding which led to an eight foot high wall of muck from the hydroelectric site being deposited there.
GVK had developed a 330-MW hydro project on the river Alaknanda in Tehri/ Pauri Garhwal District of Uttarakhand. It has a 90 metre high dam.
A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) was signed in February 2006 with Uttar Pradesh under which 12 per cent output was to be given free to Uttarakhand.