An article published in the current issue of Tehelka by Sumit Mahar, member Himdhara Collective, on the monsoon calamity that hit Kinnaur. Download full article or read article here
Category: Hydropower
Big Cost, Little Gain: Report questions feasibility of 66 MW Dhaulasidh Hydro-electric Project
Himdhara, an environment research and action group today released a report questioning the feasibility of the proposed 66 MW Dhaulasidh Hydro-electric Project to be constructed on the Beas River. Titled ‘Big Costs, Little Gain’ the report critiques the project on the rground that the environmental, socio-economic and financial costs of the project far outweigh the […]
Large hydropower Projects, larger empty promises
The South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People has been studying the generation performance of large hydroprojects across the country in general and in the Himalayan river basins in particular. Their recent studies of the Generation of Performance in the Chenab and Beas River Basins also show diminishing generation for the period of last […]
No light at the end of the tunnel
On occasion of the World Environment Day Himdhara, Environment Research and Action Collective and Him Lok Jagriti Manch, a Kinnaur based platform of communities fighting for their natural resources have written to the Chief Minister and the Union Minister of Environment and Forests drawing their attention to the urgent issues in relation tunnels being cosntructed […]
Himachal Pradesh’s green activists oppose move to divert forest land
SHIMLA: Green activists in Himachal Pradesh have strongly opposed the union environment ministry’s decision to wave off approval from the locals for diverting forests to projects under the Forest Conservation Act. In a missive to minister of environment and forests (MoEF) Jayanthi Natarajan Saturday, the activists have objected to the ministry’s “unilateral” decision, saying the […]
Villagers oppose NOC to Luhri project, petition Prem Kumar Dhumal
Anand Bodh, TNN | Sep 6, 2012, 05.59AM IST SHIMLA: Residents of 78 villages of Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts, who are likely to be affected by the construction of 775 MW Luhri hydroelectric project, are up in arms against the project as they fear that construction of 38-km long twin tunnels passing underneath many […]
The Shukla Committee Case
In the year 2009, the High Court of Himachal Pradesh which had taken suo moto notice of a news paper report on the loss of green cover due to Hydro projects. The court had appointed a one man committee to evaluate the impacts of Hydroelectric projects which submitted its report in 2010. There were many […]
Leave the Chenab Alone: Lahaul Residents, Activists Appeal
PRESS RELEASE: 30th January 2012 ‘LEAVE THE CHENAB ALONE’ LAHAUL RESIDENTS AND ACTIVISTS APPEAL; WRITE TO MOEF OBJECTING TO STATE GOVERNMENT’s STATEMENT OF EXEMPTING THE BASIN FROM CUMULATIVE IMPACT STUDIES The Jispa-Darcha Bachao Sangarsh Samiti along with several other representatives of grasroots organisations from Lahaul have written a strongly worded letter to the Union Ministry […]
Revised Notification on Local Area Development Fund – October 2011
The Himachal government has notified that the 1% free power to be made available for ‘local area development’ by hydropower producers would be distributed as annual cash transfers to ‘project-affected’ families. Is it trying to buy people’s silence in the face of increasing community opposition to hydroelectric projects? Read Article Copy of the revised notification […]
A River Under Arrest: Critique of the Luhri Hydro-electric Project on the Sutlej River
Descriptions of the Sutlej, a glacial river originating from Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet traversing through the Himalayas and Punjab plains in India and meeting the Indus in Pakistan, never fail to boast of its magnificence, speed and depth. Over the last few decades, however, this perception has been challenged, as the Sutlej has been reduced from this transcendent symbol […]