From: tgray@igc.apc.org (Tom Gray)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian.telugu
Subject: INDIA: CASH CRUNCH COULD CRIPPLE DA
Date: 4 Jan 93 18:11:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1720200004:000:4947
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!tgray    Jan  4 10:11:00 1993


/* Written 12:04 am  Dec  6, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
VCopyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Opecna Morning Transmission
Title: INDIA: CASH CRUNCH COULD CRIPPLE DAM IN THE HIMALAYAS


new delhi, dec 3 (ips/mahesh uniyal) -- uncertainty over funding
and a still-awaited safety certificate from the government have
put a question mark on india's controversial tehri dam in the
himalayan foothills.

an expert panel set up by prime minister p.v. narasimha rao to
examine the safety of the 260-metre high dam across the river
bhagirathi in the seismic garhwal himalayas has submitted its
report, officials in the environment ministry here told ips.

rao is yet to act on the still secret report. but whatever his
decision, work on the two-decade-old 2.2 billion dollar scheme
has already been hit by a cash crunch after the break up of the
former soviet union, a collaborator on the project.

paucity of funds could derail the project. newspapers report
that the prime minister favours a more liberal resettlement
scheme for the over 100,000 people being displaced by the dam
which when completed will be one of the world's five highest.

the project has been in the centre of controversy since it was
launched. environmentalists say it should be scrapped as the dam
will destroy more than develop. apart from displacing hill-
people, it will also submerge the ancient town of tehri.

experts and activists worry that the dam will not be able to
withstand an earthquake measuring eight on the richter scale.
seismic records of the himalayas stretch back to six centuries.

the region was convulsed by an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the
richter scale last october, killing about 1,000 people.

the disaster bolstered the campaign against the big dam. the
prime minister was compelled to order a probe in june after well-
known environmentalist sunder lal bahuguna undertook a six-month-
long sit-in and hunger strike at the dam site.

according to the power ministry which is implementing the
tehri project, the dam blueprints were finalised only after
taking into account the views of seismic experts.

but environmentalists challenge the claim. ''no rock filled
dam in the world has been tested for an earthquake of over
eight,'' says nalini dhar jayal of the indian national trust for
art and cultural heritage (intach) here.

jayal, at the forefront of the anti-dam campaign, says kellis
borok, a leading international seismologist from the former
soviet union had written to him before the october quake
expressing ''grave doubts'' on the dam's safety. (more/ips)

india: cash (2)

meanwhile at the dam site, minor construction activity is
going on, says s.p. singh chairman of the tehri hydroelectric
development corporation (thdc). ''now we are busy rehabilitating
the people,'' he said.

the contractual responsibility for completing the dam now
rests with russia which according to newspaper reports here is
scouting for partners among international construction firms.

russia has also told the dam authorities that it will support
the project only if they obtain a final environmental and safety
clearance from the government.

the scheme is designed to produce 2,400 mw of electricity and
store water for farm irrigation. planners say it will cater to
all the water and electricity needs of uttar pradesh and the
indian capital, some 250-km south of tehri.

but anti-dam activists say the project is not cost effective.
the damming of the bhagirathi and its tributary the bhilangana
will submerge 42 sq km of fertile land that supports peasants in
villages along the river.

moreover, none of the benefits will flow to the indigent hill
people but will go to the already pampered towns, industries and
farms in the plains, say activists.

they cite studies to show that the dam's projected life of a
hundred years will be shortened to 20 because of the increased
rate of siltation, so that it can never hope to recover costs.

the project design had estimated a siltation rate of eight
hectare metre per sq km. but now studies show the silt deposition
will be about 22 hectare meter per sq km.

some experts have suggested alternative run-of-the-river
schemes by diverting water through tunnels which can generate
electricity at a much cheaper cost and without endangering the
ecology as huge reservoirs in the himalayas will do.
(end/ips/en/mu/an/92)

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Tom Gray (tgray@igc.apc.org)