The dam site itself is very prone to seismic activity (between 8-9 on a 12 point scale). If a tremor of this magnitude does occur, the dam's present design will not be able to maintain integrity and its collapse will mean 700 billion gallons of water totally destroying Deoprayag, Haridwar and Rishikesh within an hour. Millions more downstream would also be affected by the terrible floods. The list of seismic experts who have criticised the dam's design and very location is lengthy, but these concerns have been ignored.
On December 5, 2001, impoundment of water in the Tehri reservoir began. There has been no serious effort on the part of the Central or the Uttaranchal state government to adequately resettle the villages that will be submerged by the dam, which has now reached more than 170 m. of a planned height of 260.5 m. Apart from aiming to generate 2,400 MW, the water is also supposed to be used to irrigate 2.6 lakh hectares of agricultural land. However, a closer look at the statistics tells the same old story: the dam's water will go to the northwestern districts of the state, which already have the highest percentage of land under irrigation (60 per cent), while the power will go to the advanced industrial sector of western Uttar Pradesh and around Delhi.
The dam will displace about 100,000 people. The state government has admitted that the 2,040 families in Tehri town, which was in the first phase of submergence, have yet to be resettled. The environmental clearance given by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1990 clearly stipulated that construction of the dam and rehabilitation should go on pari-passu (simultaneously).
Given present rates of siltation, the life of the dam is expected to be around 30 years. Accelerating deforestation in the Himalaya has led to massive landslides in the last decade, and the huge submergence area will destroy more forests, jeopardising those who depend on them, wildlife and humans.
The story of the Tehri hydroelectric project, shows that despite the body of evidence generated worldwide over the last three decades against large dams, India continues to keep to its blinkered path, ignoring a global trend away from massive dams and power projects in favour of small, decentralised projects, managed by local communities, where both the costs and benefits are borne locally. Alternatives such as run of the river power generation schemes that will cost less and not involve humanitarian or environmental 'casualties' have persistently been ignored, unfortunately for the thousands who will be submerged after the coming monsoon.
Concerned readers may write a letter expressing their concerns to the Prime Minister and to the Chief Minister of Uttaranchal.
