December 20, 2001	Thursday	Shawwal 4, 1422

NEW DELHI: Environmental activists opposed to the building of the controversial Tehri dam being built on a known seismic zone in the high Himalayas have found an unlikely ally in right-wing, fundamentalists who are sworn to protect the Ganges river, which is sacred to Hindus.

But even this formidable combination may not succeed in stopping the government from going ahead with the 2,400 megawatt Tehri Dam project, one of the world’s highest. It will displace 100,000 people and submerge Tehri and some 112 surrounding villages in Uttaranchal.

When the dam’s builders temporarily blocked the Bhagirathy, one of the two main tributaries of the Ganges to construct a stilling basin below the spillway, they took care to insert a two-inch pipe into the gates to ensure continued flow of water and satisfy the Vishwa Hindu Parish (VHP) or World Hindu Forum.

Ashok Singhal, firebrand leader of the VHP, which is closely allied to the Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had earlier threatened to have the construction of the dam stopped if the water of the Bhagirathy was completely blocked.

Singhal was instrumental in the formation last April of the latest of a series of review committees on the safety of the dam although this was considered “farcical” by environmental activists because the dam’s construction was to continue unhindered and 80 per cent of the Stage One of the power station is now complete.

According Vimal Bhai, an activist for the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), if the dam collapses more than 500,000 people downstream would die instantly and bring devastation all the way down here.

Bahuguna has argued that quite apart from safety and environmental questions, any benefit from constructing the dam such as additional electric power and drinking water will go to urban centres and trigger an exodus from the rural areas to the cities.—Dawn/InterPress Service.