From SANDRP, October 2013
सर्वोच्च न्यायालय द्वारा उत्तराखंड में जलविद्युत परियोजनाओं पर दिए निर्देश पर केंद्रीय पर्यावरण मंत्रालय ने दो महीने बाद १५ अक्टूबर को "अलकनंदा, भागीरथी और उनकी सहायक नदी द्रोणी-क्षेत्रों के अध्ययन" के लिए एक विशेषज्ञ समिति गठित की. लेकिन इस समिति का अधिदेश सर्वोच्च न्यायालय के आदेश के विपरीत है, जो की उत्तराखंड कि समस्त जलविद्युत परियोजनाओं को लेकर था.
इतना ही नहीं, पर्यावरण मंत्रालय पहले भी भारतीय वन्यजीव संस्थान द्वारा इस तरह कि समीक्षा करा चुका है और जिनकी रिपोर्ट में उत्तराखंड में २४ जलविद्युत परियोजनाओं द्वारा जैव-विविधता पर महत्वपूर्ण दुष्प्रभाव की बात की गई थी. उस रिपोर्ट पर निर्णय लेने कि जगह पर्यावरण मंत्रालय ने वो जिम्मेदारी इस नई विशेषज्ञ समिति के सर मड़ दी है.
अतः आवश्यक है कि विशेषज्ञ समिति के अधिदेश को बढ़ा कर पूरे उत्तराखंड की जल-विद्युत् परियोजनाओं की समीक्षा अध्ययन किया जाना चाहिए और वे सदस्य जिनका इसमें हित-विरोध है, उन्हें व अनावश्यक सरकारी प्रतिनिधियों को समिति से हटाया जाना चाहिए।
Over two months after
the Supreme Court (SC) of India order of 13 August 2013 on hydroelectric power projects
in Uttarakhand, the MoEF constituted an expert committee on 15 October 2013. This expert committee is to do a study of HEP projects “in the
river basin of Alaknanda, Bhagirathi and their tributaries”. This mandate does not
comply with the SC order which related to HEP projects in the entire
Uttarakhand state.
Also, the expert committee
has members with
conflict of interest, such Mr BP Das, who as a former Vice-Chair of MoEF's Expert Appraisal
Committee on River Valley Projects cleared many of these projects. As a member of this new expert committee, he will be now sitting on judgement over those
same projects! Similarly, Mr GL Bansal too was a member of the EAC and
hence his selection in this committee involves conflict of interest. Moreover, there is an excessive inclusion of government members such as Chief Engineer of Uttarakhand Water Resources Department, and expert representatives of NIRM, ICFRI, NDMA and CPWD. These bodies also do not have any expertise or direct involvement in hydropower projects, and were not part of the
SC order. If the committee need their expertise, they can in any
case be asked to depose before the committee.
Besides, earlier, at the behest of MoEF, Wildlife Institute of India had looked into 24 HEP projects in Uttarakhand and had concluded that these had significant impact on the biodiversity. Instead of taking decision on WII
report, MoEF has now passed the hat to the new expert committee.
Accordingly, the mandate of the expert committee needs
to be expanded to include whole of Uttarakhand as per the SC order, and its members with conflict of interest as
well as unnecessary government representation, need to be
dropped.
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