{"id":20074808,"date":"2021-06-23T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=74808"},"modified":"2021-06-30T13:44:23","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T08:14:23","slug":"another-tragedy-raises-ire-at-hydro-projects-in-himachal-pradesh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/energy\/another-tragedy-raises-ire-at-hydro-projects-in-himachal-pradesh\/","title":{"rendered":"Another tragedy raises ire at hydro projects in Himachal Pradesh"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The village of Palgi is mourning 27-year-old Amar Chand. He died on 21 May in an accident<\/a> inside a tunnel at the 800 MW Parbati II hydroelectric project<\/a> (HEP), where he was working. The project is being built in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, in Kullu district, where Palgi village is also located. Three other people died in the same accident; they were from Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, Darjeeling in West Bengal, and Nepal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC), an Indian government-owned utility, is building the hydropower station. LK Tripathi, the project head, told The Third Pole<\/a> that a huge \u201cwedge\u201d fell on the victims from the roof of the tunnel during drilling work. \u201cNormally all the wedges are tightly secured with rock anchors and steel girders, and cemented. But it seems this wedge was somewhat loose, which caused the accident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

District authorities and NHPC have promised compensation. Richa Verma, the top official in Kullu district, has ordered an inquiry into the accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amar\u2019s family remains inconsolable. His brother Roop Chand, 20, said no one had come from NHPC to offer condolences. \u201cWe lost our mother young. My father brought us up with great difficulty. We barely survived, with little income from a small farm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amar had been working at the Parbati project for about eight months. He leaves behind a four-month-old child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moti Ram Katwal, secretary of the local farmers\u2019 council, said: \u201cThese accidents at the HEP site are not new. Not long ago, we lost two other locals who got electrocuted while they were repairing a transmission line at the site.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accident prompts wider questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of NGO the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, told The Third Pole: \u201cSeveral such accidents at HEP sites and incidents of loss of lives and property have been happening in the Himalayan region due to landslides, massive soil erosion, illegal muck dumping, slope cutting etc, all triggered by these projects. But there is no central and state authority or monitoring mechanism in place. No punitive action is taken against HEP companies for their negligence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Massive<\/div>
A landslide at Urni village, close to the Karcham Wangtoo hydropower project site (Image: Sumit Mahar)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In August 2013, the Himachal Pradesh department of power and multipurpose projects passed a notification to create such a monitoring authority, Thakkar pointed out. No such body has yet appeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manshi Asher is a member of Himdhara, a Himachal Pradesh-\u200bbased environmental research and action collective. Asher said: \u201cThese projects are not financially viable as there are time and cost overruns. Then water depletion during winter, siltation during the monsoon and the impacts of climate change like glaciers receding and irregular rainfall cycle make them a losing proposition in the future. Companies have suffered significant revenue losses from these HEPs over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n