Affected parties should be heard before starting Vishnuprayag Tapovan hydro project: P.C.Tiwari
Affected parties should be heard before starting Vishnuprayag Tapovan hydro project: P.C.Tiwari
B.D.Kasniyal
Pithoragarh, Aug 12
P.C. Tiwari, President of the Uttarakhand Pariwartan Party and petitioner in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on land subsidence event at Joshimath in January 2023, has submitted before state government that the affected families of Joshimath should be heard before resumption of construction work of 520 MW Vishnu Prayag Tapovan hydro power in Uttarakashi district.
Tiwari submitted his suggestions to the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Radha Raturi.
“We have also opined that independent experts on Himalayan ecology, hydrology environment and geology be consulted before taking any decision on the project,” said Tiwari.
The PIL, that is scheduled to be heard by Nainital high court on August 13, this year, was filed by Tiwari and his team in March 2021 after the sudden flashflood in Dhauliganga and Rishiganga rivers killed more than 200 persons.” The ban on the said project, that was imposed temporarily by district administration was made permanent after we filed another application on Joshimath land subsidence event of January 2023,” said Tiwari.
According to the petitioner, the application filed in high court after Joshimath land subsidence, has requested the court to consider Himalayan fragility before construction of any big hydro project, keeping in mind the reports of independent experts activists and geologists in the past.
After Joshimath incident, the government had consulted several expert organisations and instructed National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to submit it’s report to high court in reply of the PIL.” We have also submitted that the experts who are recommending resumption of construction of Vishnu Prayag Tapovan hydro project, should also be made liable, from civil and criminal sides of law, for future disasters if caused due to the reconstruction process of such big project in highly sensitive zone of Himalaya,” said the petitioner.
