DEHRA DUN, 18 JULY: Heavy rainfall in the state has affected the power production due to the heavy deposition of silt in the rivers like Bhagirathi, Yamuna (in photo) and Tons valleys.

Priscilla Jebaraj

Even after a technical committee of the government put in a report stating that the 600MW Loharinag Pala dam can be shut down, the government has been unable to take a call on the hydel project on Bhagirathi river in Uttarakhand.

Minister of forest & environment (MoEF) Jairam Ramesh, announced the scrapping of two major hydel projects, the Pala Maneri (480 mw) and the Bhaironghati (381 mw) on the Bhagirathi river.

Mr Ramesh however, admitted that work on the Loharinag Pala run of the river power project, also on the Bhagirathi and 100 kilometres upstream of the controversial Tehri Dam, would continue.

Incomplete Project May Aggravate Landslide Risk, But It Can Be Mitigated: MoEF Panel
Nitin Sethi | TNN

New Delhi: The third big dam on the Bhagirathi river

Shishir Prashant / New Delhi/ Dehra Dun May 31, 2010, 0:24 IST

With Rs 750 crore on stake, Uttarakhand has urged the Centre to convene an early meeting of the Ganga River Basin Authority to decide the future of three major hydro power projects on the Bhagirathi in Uttarakashi district.

Kalpana Jain / New Delhi May 01, 2010, 1:58 IST

The government is taking a fresh look at the 600 Mw Loharinag-Pala hydel project on the Bhagirathi river following an expert committee report cautioning against stopping work at an advanced stage, as it might be disastrous for an active seismic zone. Work on it was suspended last year.

The Supreme Court was approached on Tuesday by an environmentalist ex-Naval officer seeking a direction to the Centre to take immediate steps to protect Bhagirathi and Bhilangana, the tributaries of Ganga, which he said faced a threat of drying fast.

The petition was filed after the Uttarakhand government had recently taken a decision to scrap some hydro-electric projects on these rivers.

RASHME SEHGAL
NEW DELHI

The ministry of environment

After the public feuding over Bt brinjal, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh is at the centre of another policy dispute with ministries of road transport and commerce for holding up critical development and industrial projects.

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