Renuka factfile

Location: On River Giri, a tributary of the Yamuna, in Renuka tehsil of Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh

Objective: To supply 1,240 mld water to Delhi for nine months a year and 40 MW electricity to Himachal Pradesh

Cost: Rs 2,700 crore; Centre will bear 90 per cent of the project cost

Dam height: 148 metres, about the height of a 50-storey building

Reservoir Length: 24 km

Land requirement: 2,200 hectares

Number of villages to be affected: 37, of which 20 will be submerged. Around 700 families will be displaced. Environment impact assessment (EIA) report puts their number at 337

Number of trees to be cut: 2,500-3,000 according to the EIA but the actual number may be around 13,000. The EIA has not taken into account forests on private land

Possible losses:

  • Agricultural land

  • Minor forest produce

  • Gharats (water mills that generate electricity and are used to make wheat flour)

  • Sand from the river bank used to construct houses locally

  • Income through royalty from the grazing communities that visit these forests

  • Livestock and animal husbandry

  • Fishing

  • Environmental impacts: methane generation from the reservoir; ecology of the flowing river

  • Religious value of Renuka lake

Possible gains:

  • 1,240 mld water to Delhi for nine months, not taking into account losses during supply

  • 40 MW power, if there is enough water in reservoir all through the year

  • Tourism: river rafting