NTPC's U'khand project continues to paddle in troubled waters

Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), a Dehra Dun-based NGO, locked horns with the saffron brigade in the town over NTPC’s 600-megawatt (Mw) Loharinag Pala hydel project. The NGO is seeking a revival of the project, planned on the Bhagirathi river in Uttarakhand, while the All India Akhara Parishad (AIAP) is opposing it.“We are not only requesting a revival of the Loharinag Pala project, but also two other projects that have been scrapped by the Centre,” said Avdash Kaushal, RLEK chairperson. Kaushal has also called for a stern action against AIAP.

The Parishad has been calling for a complete closure of the project amid reports in a section of media that a group of ministers, headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, has recommended the revival of the project.An AIAP spokesman said on religious ground, an uninterrupted flow of the Bhagirathi is necessary. “It is necessary to ban all hydel projects on it.”

The Loharinag Pala project was suspended last year on both religious and environmental grounds. The Centre also scrapped the 480-Mw Pala Maneri and 381-Mw Bhaironghati dams on the river. The two projects were being developed by the state-owned Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (UJVNL).

NTPC’s investment in the Loharinag Pala project is estimated to be at Rs 650 crore, while UJVNL is projected to have already spent Rs 100 crore on the Pala Maneri project.

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand government has requested the Centre to intervene. It has asked the government to convene a meeting of the Ganga river basin authority, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to take a final decision on the three hydel projects.A high court order last year had found the Ganga river basin authority to be competent enough and handle the management-related issues of any projects on the river, the official added.