Pitthoragarh, November 2
Citing closure of three hydro power projects on the Ganga as unfortunate for the future of the state, senior Uttarakhand Karanti Dal leader Kashi Singh Airy said today that with the closure of Pala Maneri, Bhairo Ghati and Lohari Nagpala projects, the state has not only lost 1,500 MW of electricity but also thousands of jobs which the state youth needed. “These projects do not need big reservoirs like the Tehri Dam and simply manage generation through a tunnel, causing minimum damage to the environment,” said Airy. The Uttarakhand Karanti Dal leader said the real utilisation of water available in the rivers of Uttarakhand is to generate electricity for the state otherwise this water flows towards the plains and used in multiple category to generate prosperity there. “We, the producer and protector of this water, are being deprived of using this for our prosperity under some conspiracy of which the governments are being part of,” he alleged. The UKD leader dared the Uttarakhand government to show the scientific study on the impact of these three projects on the Ganga. “If there is no base of scientific study for this, it is only whims of some white clothed intellectuals before whom the Uttarakhand government and the Centre have submitted the interests of the youth of Uttarakhand, who would be getting jobs in big numbers at these projects,” said Airy. According to the Uttarakhand Karanti Dal leader, his party is against big dams in the state because these cause problem of rehabilitation but the small and run-of-the-river projects do not cause the problem of rehabilitation but can lead the state towards being a electricity state as well as help in creating more jobs.