Features & Articles

Catastrophe in the offing
Article written by Sunderlal Bahuguna

Have we learnt anything from the Gujarat earthquake? Scientists have warned of a future earthquake in the Himalayan region. If construction of the mega Tehri dam on the Bhagirathi still continues, it would be nothing short of an invitation to disaster. A deputation recently asked Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to get work on the dam stopped. This is not the first time such a demand has been made. But all previous efforts have met with failure.

The dam site was selected in 1949, but the Planning Commission only cleared it in 1972. The work on diversion tunnels could begin only in 1978, because the local people had been continuously opposing the project. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi appointed a committee under the chairmanship of S K Roy to study the environmental impact of the proposed dam. The committee recommended that the project be dropped.

In 1986, an agreement was signed with the USSR to implement a 2,400 megawatt project at Tehri on a turn-key basis, but after some time the Soviet Union itself dissolved. The project continued - and so did the people's resistance, despite official high-handedness and cases of violence.

The dam has been designed to withstand earthquakes measuring up to 7.0 on the Richter scale. However, in the past 100 years, four major earthquakes measuring more than 8.0 on the Richter scale have occurred in the adjacent Himalayan region. Now the Tehri region too may have an 8.5-Richter intensity earthquake any time. No wonder the Environmental Appraisal Committee headed by Professor Bhumla remarked in 1990 that "it would be irresponsible to clear the Tehri Dam as currently proposed". In the event of the dam collapsing, the 42 sq km reservoir would be emptied in 22 minutes. Rishikesh would be under 260 meters of water in 63 minutes, Haridwar under 232 meters in another 20 minutes. The entire region up to Bulandshar would be flooded within 12 hours, with water flowing through Bijnor, Meerut and Hapur. The claim that the dam will be strong enough to withstand any earthquake is hollow.

The hillocks of Raika on the left bank and the slippery portion of chhar between Malideval and Serain are very weak and fragile. These hillocks may fall into the reservoir as soon as it is filled with water. This happened with the Vijont dam of Italy in 1963. The dam stayed intact, but the hillock fell into the reservoir and the water overflowed. Within an hour, 2,400 people were washed away. The water of Tehri dam will flow towards the plains, where people cannot save their lives by climbing upwards, as happens in the hills.

The only way to avert this disaster and utilise the expenditure incurred so far in the construction of the dam is to convert it into a run-of-the-river hydro-electric project. This will generate less power than the project as it is planned today, but it will be much safer. Besides, possibilities for more run-of-the-river hydel projects like Maneri-Bhali in the submergence area of the reservoir may be considered.

There is no increase in the volume of water when impounded into a reservoir. On the contrary, it decreases as some water is lost due to seepage into the crevices of the hills and some more due to evaporation. The natural way to conserve rain-water is to create a dense green cover with trees, bushes and grasses in the catchment area. This can be seen in Bhutan in the catchment area of the Chukha river. The ratio between the winter mean and monsoon peak flow is 1 to 10, while it is 1 to 70 in the case of the Bhagirathi at Tehri.

According to the builders of the Tehri dam, its life will be 100 years. But according to Prof K S Valdiya, the word-renowned expert on Himalayan geology, it will be silted up in 30 years. Prof Valdiya is not a scholar with bookish knowledge, he has traversed the whole Uttarakhand region on foot.

There is one forgotten aspect of the Tehri dam debate, which the nation and the government remember only when there is a threat from China. China has constructed a motorable road along the Indo-Tibetan border. Its objective is to rehabilitate the virgin land. In contrast, we have no Himalayan policy. The elite and the younger people flee to the plains in search of a better life. It is a universally recognised principle that hardy citizens are the second line of defence. But in Uttarakhand the youth have left their aging family members, women and children behind. The only economy here is the 'money-order economy'.

If the youth are to be retained, and the money-order economy ended, we need to follow a simple formula: "Dhar ainch pani, dhal par dala, Bijli banawa khala-khala" (Lift water to the hill-top, plant trees on slopes and generate electricity from every rivulet). This will bring stability to the fragile Himalayan hills. The youth will get employment. The flow of the rivers will be stabilised.

Often, the implementation of such projects is entrusted to government departments. The tree plantation programme is implemented by the forest department. The British were traders and the forest department was created to grow timber trees. As a result, the natural mixed forests of the Himalaya, which were the source of prosperity, health and happiness of the hill people, were converted into timber mines. Conifers - chirpine and cidar - make the soil acidic and have nominal capacity to conserve water. Bushes and other tree species do not thrive under them. The forest has been defined as a community of living things, whose members include small and big trees of different species, bushes, grasses, roots and tubers, birds and animals. Moisture is required to grow grasses, bushes, roots and tubers. Birds need a dense canopy for nesting, which conifers cannot provide.

The dying Himalayas need to be strengthened by clothing them with trees and bushes. The ratio between man and land is very favourable in the Himalayas. There should be a provision to provide land and resources to each family to plant food (nuts like walnut on a priority basis), fodder and 200 fibre species. Free saplings and a subsidy of even Rs 5 per family would go a long way. The hills' pristine greenery would be restored; the country would get a regular supply of water and the Himalayas would become an impregnable fort.



CHARKHA FEATURE
LAST UPDATED ON 2003