More dams like Tehri won't be built: Uma Bharti

Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti today said more dams, like the one in Tehri, won't be built and to maintain the natural form of rivers a stream would be created before the dam's construction.

Bharti claimed that Bhagirathi river, on which Tehri dam is built, is trapped and a team is working on releasing a stream of the river which is a headstream of the Ganga.

Suggestions are also invited from people on the issue, she said during the inauguration of a hospital in Maneri.

She claimed that the Tehri dam project had received a green signal only after VHP leader Ashok Singhal was given an assurance that a stream of the river would be released from Dharasu to Devprayag.
 

She said work for the same could not commence due to the many difficulties involved and added that a continuous stream of Ganga should flow from Gomukh to Gangasagar.

She said Bhagirathi river has lost its natural form due to the construction of the dam and claimed that if a natural stream of Ganga is not released, it would be a betrayal for the Hindu society.

The minister said the central government is working on the Ganga cleanliness drive.