Magazine on Disaster Management and Development

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An article from “Disaster Management and Development” Magazine Jan 2011 Issue

Tehri Sinking...
(Negative Impact of Tehri Dam in Uttarakhand, India)

Torrential rains have already caused havoc in Uttarakhand in general and in villages situated in vicinity of the Tehri Dam in particular and now the increased water level in the Tehri lake is gradually pushing the place to the precipice of a major ecological disaster which may maroon dozens of villages and render thousands as homeless.Numerous landslides and cloud bursts have nearly turned the place as a forbidden one.

While villagers are apprehensive of a possible ecological disaster,the officials at The Tehri Hydro Development Corporation(THDC) are unmindful of hardships faced by villagers due to frequent caving in of roads and accumulation of water at several places."There is no danger to the region because of Tehri Dam and whatever is happening is due to natural disaster.We cannot stop rains ," observed JP Dhondiyal of the Corporate Communication wing of the corporation.

TheTehri Dam is located in the fragile ecosystem of Himalayan foothills and lies in the Central Himalayan seismic Gap,a major geologic fault zone.Even the geological Survey of India in its report in 2002 had found that increased water level in the region can lead to landslides and had put an emphasis on detailed survey of the area so that appropriate measures could be taken to save the place from obliteration in case of any disaster.But this report was never made public and which is why there is no public debate on the issue.

"Increased water level has already caused much damage in the region and as many as 75 villages are affected where mounds of debris can be seen in a number of villages.The accumulation of water at several places is causing landslides but none is ready to pay heed .The area seems to have been left to God's mercy," observed Mahipal Singh Negi an active social activist who quit his job in a newspaper to fight for the cause of thousands of villagers who are on the brink of losing their belongings and even their roots which will be wiped out once their places of living get marooned.

Completed in 2006,the Tehri Dam withholds a reservoir of 2.6 billion cubic meters for irrigation,municipal water supply and generation of 1000 MW of hydroelectricity.This man made giant is sinking which can be corroborated through an intense tour of the area.

The road which connects New Tehri with Cham and is also a link to hundreds of villages has started sinking .The path from New Tehri to Cham is narrow and dangerous where mounds of debris can be seen on the road.A few kilometer further and one reaches to Maroda village ,the home to Sundarlal Bahuguna ,a well known opponent and also an environmentalist of the Tehri Dam .Bahuguna's native place has also been reduced to a relic owing to changing topography of the region."Had there been more rains,dozens of villages would have been washed away in gushing waters of the Tehri lake.This road has caved in and same is the situation in the nearby village.But neither the government is ready to pay any heed to these developments and nor the Corporation." lamented lalita Prasad Dhobal ,a resident of Maroda village.

The place Dhobal was pointing is situated nearly 100 meters above the tehri lake and it has developed cracks which extends to more than six inches at few places.These cracks have temporarily been filled with but the danger is not far away. During the peak of rainy season here ,the waterlevel in Tehri lake had reached to the level of 832 feet which forced local authorities to evacuate villages which are situated above 835 feet to the sea level.

While through an analysis of technical,social and environmental variants,it has been argued that the economic life of the dame will not exceed 61.4 years and the dam will not yield promised results within the next fifty years at least,by which time the reservoir will be substantially silted up.

Theory apart, the dam is already showing signs of being sunk even four years after its opening in 2006.When The dam was opened it completely submerged the then tehri town and 23 villages while 72 other villages were partially submerged and now a similar fear of being inundated is lurking over an equal number of villages including the new Tehri town

Though new Tehri is known as the most planned town of entire Uttarakhand but its residents are still fighting for establishment of basic facilities like good roads,uninterrupted power supply and electricity even as a decade has passed since its inception in 2000.

People are protesting in new Tehri's main market and they can be seen wrapped up in quilts under tents.They are the people who were rehabilitated in New Tehri when their native Tehri was out washed by dam waters.

"A air of melancholy prevails here.accumulation of debris at various places and telling signs of landslides are giving strong signals that danger is not far off."The state government and also the Tehri Corporation are jointly responsible for the present mess in which the new Tehri town has been pushed today," alleged Vimal Bhai,the all in all of Matoo organisation which too is fighting for welfare of New Tehri residents.