Question : DEVELOPMENT OF HYDRO POWER PROJECTS

(a) whether the Union Government has set up a committee to review the reports of three committees constituted to review all the hydro power projects on the two key tributaries of the Ganga in Uttarakhand;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the views of the Government of Uttarakhand were sought in this regard;

(d) if so, the response of Government of Uttarakhand thereon and the follow-up action taken by the Union Government thereon; and

(e) the steps being taken by the Union Government for sustained development of hydro power projects to meet the country`s power requirements?

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )

(a) to (d) : The Government of India, on the directions of the Hon`ble Supreme Court vide Judgement dated 13.8.2013, constituted an Expert Body (EB), to assess the extent of environmental degradation by existing and under construction hydropower projects in Uttarakhand; to examine the role of hydropower projects in the tragedy in Uttarakhand in June 2013; and to examine as to whether the proposed 24 projects in Uttarakhand are likely to cause significant impact on the bio-diversity of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi River Basins.

The report of Expert Body was received in April, 2014 along with a divergent and dissenting view of two members of the Committee. Both these reports were referred to a Consortium of seven IITs for their opinion. The same was received in July 2014. All these reports have been submitted to Hon`ble Supreme Court.

The Government of Uttarakhand is one of the respondents in the existing Petition before the Hon`ble Supreme Court and representative of Uttarakhand Government is attending the deliberations / meetings, convened by Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change on the direction of Supreme Court.

The proposals for environment clearance are processed as per the provisions under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2006. The projects are accorded clearance after receiving requisite and complete documents from the project proponents including report of public hearing, etc.

(e) : The steps taken by the Union Government for sustained development of hydropower projects to meet the country`s power requirements include policy initiatives like National Electricity Policy, Hydro Power Policy, National Rehabilitation & Resettlement Policies, National Tariff Policy etc. Apart from these policy initiatives, the Central Government regularly monitors and reviews the implementation of various hydro projects.