Buying Silence, Manufacturing Consent
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? NEW Full Article
Diverting the Real Issues
Even as the Himachal Hydropower Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) is set
to make a fresh application for diversion of forestland for the Renuka
Dam project, environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh has
reaffirmed his ministry’s August 31 decision. In its order, the ministry
had declined forest
clearance to the dam on the grounds that around 1.5
lakh trees would be submerged by the project. The Delhi government has
been banking on the project to alleviate the capital’s water worries.
It is not surprising that in order to represent their case, the
project proponents are now trying to reduce the number of trees by
making ‘alterations’ to the 148-metre dam in Himachal Pradesh. While the
figure of 1.5 lakh itself is debatable (local people place it at about
13 lakh), the issue is not merely one of the ‘number of trees’ being
cut.
There is ample evidence to indicate a more substantial basis for the
ministry’s decision. Full Article
A Pause On Hydropower
The decision of the Union environment ministry to allow parts of the
Ganga’s tributaries to flow freely in Uttarakhand, indicates there is
finally some recognition of the environmental impacts of hydel projects,
long hyped as clean energy producers. Dams in Uttarakhand and the Northeast have been at the centre of
controversy for some time. But till recently little attention was given
to the country’s leading hydel producing state, Himachal Pradesh. A
recent one-man committee report presented to the state’s high court
offers some hope. Full Article
Lafarge EIA revoked, Villagers Relieved
IN
a landmark move the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA)
on 30th August revoked
the environment clearance granted to the
French
multinational, Lafarge, for its ` 900 crore greenfield
cement project in Himachal Pradesh by the Union
Ministry of
Environment and Forests (MoEF).
Full Article
Andar Se Solid? The making of a fugitive river
In Kinnaur district of
Himachal Pradesh, the largest and fastest of the five rivers of the
state, enters the Indian subcontinent from Tibet, where its source the
Mount Kailash stands tall. Call it Langchen Khambab (Tibetan), Satadru
(Sanskrit) or Sutlej, as it is commonly known, this river is a mad
torrent, especially in the rains. Its size, speed and sound resonate in
the Himalayan landscape and makes the human spirit feel vulnerable,
apart from filling it up with reverence for this creation of nature. Tales of how buses and trucks that have accidentally plummeted down the
hill roads, and into this mammoth river, have disappeared instantly
never to be found again are sure to be heard if one is driving around
in the upper reaches of the Sutlej Valley. But the power of technology
led by infinite greed has attempted to tame the wildest creatures on
the planet. Full Article
The
Green Beat : A Book Review of 'The Green Pen' By Keya Acharya and Frederick
Noronha
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A Dubious Gift
Gujarat
International Finance Tech City (GIFT), to come up in Gandhinagar, is being
promoted as India's largest
multi-services financial hub and SEZ. To be built mostly on common grazing
lands grabbed from surrounding villages and by panicking farmers into selling
their agricultural land, it is yet another instance of how commercial interests
are favoured at the expense of the poor
Adani
builds, MoEF Bends
An analysis of the Forest Clearance bungles in the Mundra Port and SEZ case. It illustrates bowthe ‘inprinciple’clearance to diversion of forest lands provides ample grey area for “adjustments” to the benefit of the project proponents, who treat “inprinciple” as “final”
Mega Projects Threaten Himachal Climate
Since the BJP came to power in the Himalayan State of Himachal Pradesh, it has aggressively paid lip service to 'Climate Change' issues. Be
it distribution of CFL bulbs and or a complete ban on plastics, the government has basked in the self created glory of these gimmicks, posing as the saviour of the Himalayan region from the threat of the global warming . Making sure that technical and market based ideas dominate the discourse, has been a global and national trend
and the present Himachal government is merely following suit, even as the crisis of climate change assumes larger proportions for the Himalayan ecosystem and its people.
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