Vyasi HEP dam reservoir on Yamuna turns into 'watery grave' for aquatic eco-system

By Bhim Singh Rawat*
Vyasi hydroelectric power (HEP) on Yamuna river is latest example of how the hydro power projects being pushed in the name of clean and green energy sources are failing on all fronts and proving a costly affair for the river, people and the nation.
The people who still think that the Run of the River (RoR) projects do not require a dam and cause no submergence of land; must visit the Vyasi HEP to witness the about 4 km long reservoir behind the 86-meter tall and 200-meter-long dam there.
The dam reservoir today has become a watery grave for the aquatic eco-system evolved around and accustomed to a free-flowing river.

For the fish in the river upstream of the dam, the river downstream the dam which once was their inherited territory is a forbidden space now.

Same is true for the riverine flora including native trees hundreds of which are still standing tall but lifeless along the dead pool of the Vyasi dam.

And yes, all the fertile farms and beautiful homes of Lohari a tribal village along the Yamuna bank are submerged in the same river which once nurtured them.

The villagers feel rooted out not just from the piece of land but from their long-lasting culture, customs and in essence from their very existence.

They struggled hard for months to get their legitimate screams be heard by the very government they elected and trusted. Dejected but determined they continue to stay close to the drowned habitats demanding land for land and defending their tribal status.

The children with lovely memories of their lost village now can’t help their eyes getting moist when they are asked where is their village.

Unaware of the cost they paid, some innocent young kids love to make toy houses, temple, school with stones and refused materials closed to their drowned birth place.

Yes, the government has started building shelters but not for the displaced but for the migrant workforce hired to build another monstrous dam Lakhwar in the upstream.

Locals say some Rs 3,200 crore contract has been given to L&T company for civil construction work and after monsoon the work on the 204 meter tall dam would start.

Back to the Vyasi HEP, the project is unable to produced 120 Mw (60X2) energy for which it was pushed over a decade costing about Rs. 1800 crore.

Now, the ‘visionary officials’ lament lack of sufficient flows in Yamuna for the gross under performance of Vyasi HEP and hide behind Lakhwar dam to correct all the wrong.

The giant 120 MW Vyasi HEP with a trail of destruction while in the making is nothing more than a show piece now. Fill the dam for half a day to run it in the other half at half the installed capacity appears to be the face-saving mantra the UJVNL has worked out.

And, once the roaring river now degraded into a feeble stream downstream the dam being fed by some 5 cumec of e-flows including the seepages.

Last year when the UJVNL started taming the river, downstream the dam dead fish could be seen spread over the riverbed, they used to thrive on. Same is going on but at lower scale to fresh water species rehabilitating the river downstream the Vyasi HEP dam which more than often is reduced into a flowless water channel.

And downstream the power station the hungry water rushes though the riverbed ready to erode the banks and the bed and swept away whoever ventures in thus making the riverscape a danger zone for fishermen, farmers, tourists and all.

An annoying siren blared out around noon hours and as the day passes more silt-free water is released into the river making it more aggressive.

One can witness the same river in three different forms – a dammed, a flowless and a raging river along a 20km long stretch between Lohari and Dak Pathar barrage courtesy the failed Vyasi HEP.

Habitats of people above the dam have been drowned and below the dam people have been put in a danger zone & in between the project lacks water to run at full capacity.

Meanwhile, focus is being shifted to Lakhwar to cover up for all the failures and threats of Vyasi HEP.
---
*Pix by the author. Source: South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People

Comments

US govt funding 'dubious PR firm' to discredit anti-GM, anti-pesticide activists

By Our Representative The Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) has vocally condemned the financial support provided by the US Government to questionable public relations firms aimed at undermining the efforts of activists opposed to pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in India.

Modi govt distancing from Adanis? MoEFCC 'defers' 1500 MW project in Western Ghats

By Rajiv Shah Is the Narendra Modi government, in its third but what would appear to be a weaker avatar, seeking to show that it would keep a distance, albeit temporarily, from its most favorite business house, the Adanis? It would seem so if the latest move of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) latest to "defer" the Adani Energy’s application for 1500 MW Warasgaon-Warangi Pump Storage Project is any indication.

Bayer's business model: 'Monopoly control over chemicals, seeds'

By Bharat Dogra* The Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) has rendered a great public service by very recently publishing a report titled ‘Bayer’s Toxic Trails’ which reveals how the German agrochemical giant Bayer has been lobbying hard to promote glyphosate and GMOs, or trying to “capture public policy to pursue its private interests.” This report, written by Joao Camargo and Hans Van Scharen, follows Bayer’s toxic trail as “it maintains monopolistic control of the seed and pesticides markets, fights off regulatory challenges to its toxic products, tries to limit legal liability, and exercises political influence.”

105,000 sign protest petition, allege Nestlé’s 'double standard' over added sugar in baby food

By Kritischer Konsum* 105,000 people have signed a petition calling on Nestlé to stop adding sugar to its baby food products marketed in lower-income countries. It was handed over today at the multinational’s headquarters in Vevey, where the NGOs Public Eye, IBFAN and EKO dumped the symbolic equivalent of 10 million sugar cubes, representing the added sugar consumed each day by babies fed with Cerelac cereals. In Switzerland, such products are sold with no added sugar. The leading baby food corporation must put an end to this harmful double standard.

Militants, with ten times number of arms compared to those in J&K, 'roaming freely' in Manipur

By Sandeep Pandey* The violence which shows no sign of abating in the ongoing Meitei-Kuki conflict in Manipur is a matter of concern. The alienation of the two communities and hatred generated for each other is unprecedented. The Meiteis cannot leave Manipur by road because the next district North on the way to Kohima in Nagaland is Kangpokpi, a Kuki dominated area where the young Kuki men and women are guarding the district borders and would not let any Meitei pass through the national highway.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded reaction in the form of a link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Can voting truly resolve the Kashmir issue? Past experience suggests optimism may be misplaced

By Raqif Makhdoomi* In the politically charged atmosphere of Jammu and Kashmir, election slogans resonated deeply: "Jail Ka Badla, Vote Sa" (Jail’s Revenge, Vote) and "Article 370 Ka Badla, Vote Sa" (Article 370’s Revenge, Vote). These catchphrases dominated the assembly election campaigns, particularly across Kashmir.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad* The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.

Search This Blog