The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Hydro-electric projects face slowdown
Worldwide recession that has forced MNCs to pullout, strong opposition by environmentalists, awareness campaigns and politicking has slowed down the hydro-power sector
SMA Kazmi
Tribune News Service

A file picture of construction in Tehri (above) and (below): A view of downstream of Maneri Bhali-II on the Bhagirathi near Uttarkashi where the water flow is minimal.

Dehradun, April 7
Economic recession, environmental concerns and above all politics have cast a shadow over the coming hydro-electric projects in Uttarakhand.

While the state proposes to exploit
at least 20,000 mw of hydro-
electric potential in the coming
decades, recession and recent
developments concerning big and
small hydro-electric projects has
led to a slowdown in the sector.

Already, the recession has taken
its toll in the hydel sector with a
consortium backtracking after
winning the contract for building
four hydel projects in the Nayar
valley of Uttarakhand.

WWI-RRE, the consortium of RR Energy and Worlds Window Impex (WWI), had agreed to pay Rs 41.5 crore, including an upfront premium of Rs 29.5 crore, considered to be the highest in the country, for building four hydel projects with a capacity of 23.25 mw.

But after depositing the initial amount of Rs 50 lakh with the state government, the consortium withdrew apparently due to global recession and high cost of the project, say sources.

Uttarakhand Infrastructure Projects Company Ltd (UIPC), a joint venture of IL&FS and the state government, had finalised the bidding process.

Of the Rs 41.5 crore, UIPC was charging Rs 29.5 crore as upfront premium from the developer, Rs 10 crore as fixed development premium and Rs 2.1 crore as project development expenses.

The consortium had bid for the 17 mw Nayar dam, 2 mw Santudhar-I, 2 mw Santudhar-II and 2.25 mw Biyali Gaon - all on Nayar river, a tributary of the Ganga in Pauri district.

Nine companies were selected in the final bidding. These include ACC, Bhilwara
Group and Nagarjuna Cement. An investment of Rs 200 crore was proposed in
the four projects.

Meanwhile, after the exit of WWI-RRE, the company has again initiated the bidding process, the sources said.

On the other hand, the Central Government has stopped work on the Lohari-
Nagpala project on the Bhagirathi built by National Thermal Power Corporation
(NTPC) following the second indefinite fast by environmentalist Prof GD Agarwal
in January this year.

He had been protesting against construction of any hyrdo-electric project on the Bhagirathi between Gangotri and Uttarkashi to protect the river in that stretch in its pristine glory in view of the religious sensibilities of Hindus.

After Prof Agarwal’s first indefinite fast in June last, the Uttarakhand government had suspended work on the Pala Maneri Bhali and Bhairon Ghati projects that it was building. A high-level experts’ group was formed by the Union Government to look into the demands of Prof Agarwal as work on the Lohari Nagpala project continued.

Dissatisfied with the report of the experts, Prof Agarwal re-started his fast. The Union Government that did not want the Opposition, particularly the right-wing Hindu groups and the Sangh Parivar, to exploit the issue decided to stop work on the Lohari Nagpala project giving a jolt to the BJP state government that wanted to resume its stalled projects.

It is unlikely that a decision on re-starting these projects will be taken before the outcome of the general election and formation of the next Union Government leading to delay and cost escalation of these big projects.

While the state government has been trying to make the state a truly “energy” one by allowing tapping of its huge hydro-electric potential, concerned citizens and social activists have joined hands to mobilise opinion against the “anti-river” policies of the state.

The year 2008 was observed as "Save the Rivers Year" and various padyatras along the river valleys were taken out throughout the year to make people aware on the impact of these hydro-electric projects and other unsustainable and “anti-people” policies of the state.

"Official policies have viewed water only as a commodity and not a community resource essential for survival," said Radha Behn, chairperson, Gandhi Peace Foundation, one of the lead motivators of the campaign.

The campaign focused on the negative impact of the large number of hydro-electric projects: the land cave-in at Chai village located above the Vishnuprayag hydro-electric project due to construction of a 11 km-long underground tunnel, consequent shifting of the entire village and fear of displacement of people as the fallout of other projects like Maneri Bhali Phase-II, the cave-in of Pato village due to the Roopsuiabagad-Khasiabagad tunnel on Gauri Ganga and the damage caused to Singoli village following blasts for digging the Singoli-Bhatwari tunnel in Rudraprayag district of Garhwal.

"The existence of rivers, including the Ganga, is threatened as 330 big, medium and small dams will be built throughout the state in coming years. Not only rivers and their ecosystems are in peril but the lives, livelihoods and culture of hundreds of villages are doomed to perish," said Dr Ravi Chopra of the People’s Science Institute here, who is coordinating the campaign.

"We are not campaigning against hydropower generation. We believe that there are better ways to generate hydro-power that do not threaten lives and livelihood. The state government needs to carefully study the issues and prepare a comprehensive policy with genuine involvement of communities likely to be affected, so that they can be partners in development in the real sense," emphasised Dr Chopra.

The campaign members alleged that developmental policies would sound the death knell of rivers and rivulets in this Himalayan region.

“The state government as well as Central Government has turned a blind eye to the plight of snow-fed rivers and the continuous decrease in discharge levels in these rivers due to large-scale exploitation has become a matter of grave concern for the common man,” he said.

“It is the first campaign in the country that calls for conservation and preservance of rivers, rivulets and water resources besides protecting the forest cover in totality,” claimed Laxman Singh Negi, a volunteer from Uttarkashi.

The campaign, he said, was against the policies of the government that tended
to interfere in sustainable lifestyles in their greed for earning money by exploiting
natural resources like rivers and forests, the very basis of sustainability of life
in the Himalayas.

Activists allege that glacier-fed rivers are threatened by power projects and those spring-fed drying up due to deforestation.

The campaign members demand that a comprehensive developmental policy, taking into consideration the ecological sensitivity of the Himalayas and the people dependent on it, should be made.

The water policy of the state should be people-oriented rather than biased in favour of multinational private companies.

The activists demand that all hydro-electric projects that destroy agricultural lands, forests and rivers should not be allowed to be built.

Scientist with music in his soul
Rajeev Marathe, a scientist with the IRDE, will be
performing in Lyons and Paris in France in May
along with renowned flutist Hari Prasad Chaurasia
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 7
Growing up midst the strains of wafting ragas at his home in Gwalior was inspiration enough for Rajeev Marathe to take up classical vocal singing as a hobby even as another part of him egged him on to take up engineering career.

Rajeev Marathe, a scientist with the Instrumentation Research and Defence Establishment (IRDE) and an exponent of Indian classical music has meshed his career and passion rather well.

On a mantelpiece, his degrees in music and engineering are placed side by side. He has a degree in Sangeet Prabhakar from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad, as well as an MTech degrees. But what has his branched life been?

Taking up apprenticeship under Guru Bangre of the Gwalior school that has produced renowned musicians and singers in the country, Marathe has conceptualised an undocumented raga named after his Guru “Raga Arun”.

“The Gwalior school is known for strict rigour and grammar. The stress is on aalap,” says Marathe, who accompanied his sister to music classes as a boy.

“Music for me is an expression of my artistic instinct that remained dormant while I pursued my engineering degree. At that point in time, I thought it would be risky plunging headlong into a musical career. Employed as a full time-scientist with the IRDE, I have continued to pursue my first passion, that is music,” explains Marathe.

Compulsions of a full-time career notwithstanding, Marathe has participated in concerts in India and abroad.

“I will be performing in the cities of Lyons and Paris in France in May along with renowned flutist Hari Prasad Chaurasi and Varun Pal. On previous occasion too, I was also invited by the French university, Tere-du-Ciel to perform at the Indian Festival in Lyons in 2006,” he says.

He says there is a sizeable population in France and Germany that is interested in Asian and Indian classical music.

“Though classical music lovers have not grown exponentially with the expanding population and may have even been overtaken by other popular forms of music, purists will continue to be drawn to classical music. Whenever I have performed at colleges and universities, we have had the youngsters enthralled,” says Marathe, who has cut two albums on Bhakti Sangeet along with his wife who shares his interest in music.

On the cultural and artistic scene in Dehradun, he says: “One has to look for avenues, but I am afraid they are difficult to come.

“Our own effort to form an association for artistes called Saptak in 1992 could not last long. We held musical baithaks but within a few years we had to disband the association,” he adds.