Victory! India Scraps Large Hydropower Project on the Ganges

For the third year in a row, one of India's most eminent scientists, Professor AD Agarwal, has carried out a "fast-unto-death" in protest against the 600 MW Loharinag Pala hydropower project in Uttarakhand, India. Last year, project construction stopped after Prof. Agarwal came close to dying on the 38th day of his fast, only to resume a year later.

Earlier this week, lead by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, a group of ministers (GoM) announced they would scrap the project completely. As part of the decision, the government has created India’s first dam-free zone in the ecologically sensitive area, through which the river will flow freely for 135 kilometers. Prof. Agarwal has called off his fast as environmental, religious, and social justice groups rejoice at the news.

• Read about this breakthrough here!

The Loharinag Pala project is located on the Bhagirathi River, the source stream of the Ganges River. A large number of religious leaders had been protesting against the proposed dam because the Ganges system is considered holy by the Hindus.

According to the Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, the "earlier decision (to resume work) was taken reluctantly and after the GoM revisited the decision, it finally decided to scrap the proposed dam on the river to ensure its free flow."

More information

• "GoM decides to scrap NTPC hydel project on Bhagirathi river," The Economic Times, Aug 20, 2010
• "Under pressure, govt scraps dam," Hindustan Times, Aug 21, 2010
• Several hundred major dams and barrages are still planned or under construction by India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan for the foothills of the Himalayas. Read about these projects in the International Rivers report, Mountains of Concrete.