Sundernagar, February 19
Thousands of truck-loads of industrial waste (muck) from the 800 MW Kol Dam Hydro Power Project is being dumped either into the Sutlej or by the side of the river every day. It is also posing danger to the historical Bhakra Project as the muck is flowing directly into the river and is threatening the aquatic life of the Govind Sagar lake. The National Thermal Power Corporation is violating all environmental norms. Due to the dumping of the muck the width of the river has become very narrow at certain places.
The foundation stone of the Rs 4000-crore project was laid by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on June 5, 2001, on the World Environment Day at Kangoo, 16 km from here.
According to the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the National Thermal Power Corporation, Mr Chander Parkash Jain, the Kol Dam Project will be completed by 2007-2008 and 27 per cent of the power generated will be supplied to Himachal Pradesh, including 12 per cent free electricity. The height of the dam will be 163 metres.
This project may have provided certain benefits to the locals but it is a threat to the environment of this hill state as the banks of the Sutlej are being used as the dumping yard.
The work of dumping the waste has been given to two companies, Sri Sai Constructions and Anmol Madhu Construction. The field staff reveals that daily 4000 truckloads of waste is dumped either by the side of the river or thrown directly into the Sutlej. On a visit to the spot this correspondent noticed that on an average two truckloads of muck was being dumped every minute. The waste is unloaded within a radius of 500 metres from the entrance of the tunnel (as is clear from the photograph which was taken around 11 a.m. on Saturday).
The spot is not a dumping site. But the project authorities have never been stopped from doing so by any one, including the government agencies of Himachal Pradesh. The dumping work is going on between Ropa and Kayan villages along the river side, about 35 km from here.
The field staff of the Forest Department does not know about any dumping site but reliable sources say that a catchment area treatment plan of 65 crore has been prepared. Representatives of the Fisheries Department, the Directorate of which is situated at Bilaspur, Bhakra Beas Management Board, Forest Department of H.P. and Pollution Control Board have never tried to stop the Kol Dam project authorities from throwing muck into the Sutlej or along the river bank. The Kol Dam authorities deny the allegation of dumping muck without complying to the environmental norms. According to legal experts the project authorities are violating the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act under which this cannot be done without the prior permission of the Central Government as it violates pollution laws.
Recently the Larji Hydel Project authorities were directed by the Forest Department to pay a penalty of Rs 1.54 crore for dumping muck along the Beas, but interestingly no action has been taken against the Kol Dam authorities.
