“Through our petition, we will highlight that the suspension of these projects would escalate their cost and severely jeopardise the country’s efforts to provide electricity to all villages,” RLEK Chairperson Avadash Kaushal said.
On the other hand, the Indian Council of Enviro-Legal Action has filed a petition in the Uttarakhand High Court for stopping the construction of all dams on the Bhagirathi between Uttarkashi and Gangotri areas.
The Council is seeking the court’s direction to restore the natural flow of the river and declare the area a national heritage site, saying these dams would destroy the biodiversity of the river.
RLEK has filed a petition in the High Court seeking direction to the Uttarakhand government to restart the construction of two major hydel projects — 480-MW Pala Maneri and 400-MW Bhairon Ghati on the Bhagirathi river. Both the Pala Maneri and Bhairon Ghati projects were allotted to the Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd. An investment of nearly INR52 billion was proposed in these two projects.
RLEK in its petition accused that the Uttarakhand government of stopping the construction of these two projects under the pressure of various religious groups and has acted in violation of its own policy regarding hydropower generation.
