Govt objects to World Bank inquiry into U’khand plant

The government has objected to World Bank investigating Vishnugad Pipalkoti power plant in Uttarakhand for its social and environmental impact saying it was beyond the bank’s mandate.

Updated on: Jan 5, 2013, 22:55:38 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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The government has objected to World Bank investigating Vishnugad Pipalkoti power plant in Uttarakhand for its social and environmental impact saying it was beyond the bank’s mandate.

A World Bank team from Washington in November last year had conducted a preliminary inquiry into the complaint of the locals that the 444 MW power project will destroy local ecology and impact flow of river Ganga and sought a full-fledged inquiry into the impact of the project.

The bank in August 2012 had sanctioned $648 million for the project, which is yet to get forest clearance from the environment ministry, the last stumbling block before the work on the project can start.

The bank in a report to the government had found some objections of the locals to be genuine and wants the government to look into them. The bank is also considering a full inquiry on the adverse impact of the project on local hydrology, a major area of concern for those fighting to save river Ganga. The hydro-project is coming on river Alakananda, an important tributary of river Ganga.

The bank, which is also funding environment ministry’s mission to clean river Ganga, has reportedly raised the possibility of the project changing the local environmental conditions, which could impact livelihood of the locals.

The report also speaks about the emotional attraction of large population to Ganga, a spiritual river. Government officials say the report also impinges on translocation of people affected by the project and drying of local water bodies because of diversion of Alakananda River for the hydro-project.

“Such issues are not within the Bank’s mandate,” a senior power ministry official said.

The government feels that social and environmental issues are under national purview and hence beyond the mandate of World Bank’s panel.

Many of the issues raised by the World Bank are pending before the Supreme Court, the government official said, arguing that there was no need for a parallel inquiry by the bank.

If needed the bank can consider conducting an inquiry after the apex court delivers its verdict, the government has said, in its report to the bank’s preliminary report.

In addition to the court, a committee headed by planning commission member BK Chaturvedi is also looking at impact of hydro power plants on river Ganga and its tributaries. The panel is yet to submit its report.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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