Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and opposed the new 4,179.59 sq km eco-sensitive zone in the Bhagirathi Valley, which put tough restrictions on tourism and hydel projects in the hill state.

Bahuguna, leading a delegation comprising the party's state MPs and Congress general secretary Birendra Singh at Parliament house, told Singh there should be a review of the eco-sensitive zone where the area has been increased from 40 sq km to 4179.59 sq km, without taking the consent of the state. Bahuguna also met the minister for state for environment and forest, Jayanthi Natarajan, separately on the issue and urged the centre to set up a high-powered committee to review the eco sensitive zone.

The village panchayat of Chharba, where the cola major plans to set up its Rs 600-cr bottling plant, passes resolution on not to allow the proposed project to come up

Chharba-Langha Road, 30 km from Dehradun city, is a green industrial belt. This patch on the western fringes of the Doon Valley is also known for its lush green khair and sheesham trees. In many ways, the area is an example of sustainable development, where over 50 Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) exist in harmony with nature.

The Uttarakhand Government would request the Centre to review the notification on eco-sensitive zone between Gomukh and Uttarkashi as its implementation would adversely affect all development activity and economic progress of the region.

Briefing newspersons after a high-level meeting at the Secretariat here on Thursday, Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain said it had been decided to seek a review by the Centre after discussing the legal aspects, adverse effects and practical issues involved.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today strongly opposed the Centre's recent notification declaring a vast stretch of land from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi on either side of the Bhagirathi river

The Uttarakhand government has strongly opposed the Central government' decision to issue a gazette notification to declare area around both sides of the about 100km-long banks of the river Bhagira

A memorandum of understanding signed between multinational beverage giant Coca Cola and Uttarakhand government to set up a Rs 600 crore bottling plant in the district has triggered protests by envi

Navdanya, the People’s Science Institute and the Friends of Doon — all local environment protection groups — have urged Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to immediately cancel the memorandum of understanding signed with Coca-Cola that plans to set up a unit in Vikas Nagar area near here.

“We will never allow Coca-Cola to set up its plant in the ecologically sensitive Doon Valley as the plant, besides stealing our water, will pollute the groundwater with highly dangerous chemicals and metals causing untold misery to the local community and convert the neighbouring agricultural lands into wastelands,” said Vandana Shiva of Navdanya.

Proposed plant plans to use water from the Yamuna river, which also provides water to five hydel power projects in Uttarakhand.

Says river’s catchment area is fragile and falls under Zone V seismic belt

Citing the fragility and seismic nature of the Yamuna catchment as one of the reasons for not going ahead with the construction of dams, a Delhi-based non-government organisation, Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, has written to the Planning Commission to refrain from funding construction of the proposed Lakhwar Byasi hydroelectric dam project over the river.

The Uttarakhand government presented a tax-free, revenue surplus budget for 2013-14 amid uproar in the Assembly on Wednesday.