Environment ministry does not evaluate cumulative environmental impact of multiple dams in a region. Funded by the project proponent, the EIA report of a project too downplays the environmental costs, reports M Rajshekhar

Housed in the ministry of environment and forests is a quasi-independent body whose job is to scrutinise every hydel-power project for environmental damage. In its six years, the hydel environmental assessment committee (EAC) has evaluated 262 hydropower plants and irrigation projects, according to a February 2013 study by the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, a Delhi-based antidam organisation; it hasn’t rejected a single one.