Activists to oppose Loharinag Pala hydel project (Hindu 19 July 2010)

“It will affect flow of the Bhagirathi, a tributary of Ganga”
NEW DELHI: With the government refusing to scrap the 600-MW Loharinag Pala hydel project on the Bhagirathi river, a motley group of activists — including local villagers, lawyers, NGOs, Hindu religious leaders and a member of the National Ganga River Basin Authority — has started plotting out a protest campaign. Their plans include an indefinite fast in Haridwar, a meeting with the Prime Minister and the demand for a public audit on the decision. The crux of their argument is that the project will affect the flow of the Bhagirathi, which is a tributary of the Ganga, and that the project promoter NTPC has violated environmental guidelines. They also feel that the Group of Ministers which made the recommendation to retain the project based on fiscal issues — Rs. 600 crore has already been spent on the project — had not taken into account these issues.
Speaking at a “Save Ganga” protest meeting convened by the NGO Manushi over the weekend, Ravi Chopra, founder of the People's Science Institute and a member of NGRBA, said members of the Authority were not even informed of the constitution of the GoM.
“So who has the final power, this GoM or the NGRBA,” asked environmental lawyer M.C. Mehta. Since the Prime Minister is the Chairman of the NGRBA, a delegation led by Swami Avimukteshwaranand, the Shankaracharya-designate of Jyotirmath and Dwarka, plans to meet him to ask “why he has stamped his approval on this illegal decision.”
Public audit
“We demand a public audit. Such vital decisions cannot be taken by these secret meetings of a small group of Ministers based on fraudulent facts,” said Manushi's Madhu Kishwar. “The government should place all facts for open public discussion.”
The NGRBA team found that the NTPC has violated environmental norms with regard to blasting materials, dumping of waste and drying up of pools, according to Mallika Bhanot, an activist with Ganga Ahvaan. “If there are violations, you are legally bound to revoke the environmental clearance,” she told Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh.
In fact, the activists expressed their strong disgruntlement with the Minister, leading to some heated exchanges. “In front of us, you behave like a Ram, why do you show another face in front of the Ministers,” asked the Swami, referring to Mr. Ramesh's earlier assurances that dams would not be allowed to damage the ecological flow of the river. He reiterated the offer that Hindu devotees would raise the money needed to compensate the government's investment if it scrapped the project.
The Minister pointed out that it was not his decision alone. While he had placed the arguments against the project in front of the GoM, the decision had gone the other way, due to the investment made in the project, the Rs. 2,000 crore worth of construction orders placed, and the power it will generate.
“Don't live in an ideal fantasy world,” he told the activists. “Live in an India which has 1.4 billion people and where the government has to meet their energy needs … Solar energy, wind energy, these are all romantic things. We have to depend on hydel power, thermal power.”
“I am not an NGO”
Mr. Ramesh indicated that he could not be expected to protest the government's decision despite that “in my heart, I still believe it should be stopped … I am not an activist, I am not an NGO, I am a Minister of the government,” he added, putting the ball in the court of the NGOs.