Late Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru had once described the hydel projects as temples of modern India.
But for GVK’s 330 Megawatt (Mw) Srinagar hydel project in Uttarakhand, a Hindu temple has now become a big roadblock. On a complaint of the devotees of the Dhari Devi temple, a three-member team of experts made an on-the-spot assessment of the project on Sunday near Srinagar town in Pauri district.
Shankracharya Swami Swroopanand and other seers are up in arms to save the Dhari Devi temple from submerging into the reservoir of the Srinagar project. Last year, BJP leader Uma Bharati had observed an indefinite fast on the same issue.
“After assessing the dam and its various environmental issues, the team returned to New Delhi yesterday to submit its report to the Centre,” said a top government official.
The project on Alaknanda river is facing opposition from some environmentalists and sadhus, who are alleging that GVK increased the capacity of the project from 200 Mw to 330 Mw only to destroy the Dhari Devi temple.
However, a large number of people from Srinagar town have resorted to agitation asking the Centre not to stop the construction of the Srinagar project in national interest. The central team members also met the protesters to elicit their views.
The team's visit came after seers held a protest meet at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi under the banner of Ganga Mukti Sangram. Swami Swaroopanand, who took part in the protest in the national capital, said a separate ministry for conservation of Ganga should be set up. RLEK, a Dehra Dun-based NGO which is spearheading a campaign for building hydel projects on Ganga, has claimed that hydel projects are being shut down in India on the “instigation” of the United States of America. “It is on the instigation of the US that the hydel projects are facing closure. The US is also forcing India to build nuclear plants at a time when they are being shut down all over the world,” said RLEK’s chairperson Avdhash Kaushal.
