MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Environment Protection Agency (AJK-EPA) has taken strong exception to the impending loss of vegetative cover along the proposed route of transmission line of a hydropower project in view of its environmental impact on the city of Muzaffarabad.

The agency has asked the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) to halt the process at the earliest and find some alternative route to avoid environmental degradation in the area, Dawn has learnt.

The 147-megawatt Patrind hydropower project has been built by a Korean company – Star Hydropower -- on build-operate-own-transfer (BOOT) basis and likely to be commissioned sometime next month.

The powerhouse is located along the right bank of Jhelum River across the Lower Chattar neighbourhood of Muzaffarabad.

On Feb 7, the EPA director general, Chief Conservator of Forests and a technical team from the NTDC had visited the project site and after detailed deliberations with experts, the EPA had informed all stakeholders in unequivocal terms that the current route proposed for power transmission was not viable in terms of environmental approach.

AJK-EPA says that the hydropower project’s line route would impact the environment

According to an EPA document, addressed to NTDC and copied to top AJK government functionaries, the patch of the forest, proposed to be hacked, was in the immediate vicinity of Muzaffarabad city and contributed to its beauty,

visual amenity and biodiversity (ecological) services for human beings.

The EPA document said that the project had already caused significant erosion of green vegetation comprising large size Chir pine trees, shrubs and a miscellany of floral species.

The EPA regretted that Star Hydropower had “unilaterally” changed the design of the project by shifting switchyard from a designated and approved site on the left bank of river to the right bank without prior intimation and approval of the agency.

The AJK Environmental Protection Act of 2000 explicitly stipulates that “no proponent of a project shall commence construction or operation unless he has filed with EPA an Initial Environmental Examination or where the project is likely to cause an adverse environmental effect, an Environmental Impact Assessment, and has obtained from the EPA approval in respect thereof.”

“In order to propose a viable way forward, a committee comprising the technical experts of NTDC, Star Hydropower and AJK Forests Department should be constituted to look for the alternatives aimed at securing the natural resources in compliance of the objectives of sustainable development,” suggested the agency.

Earlier, in response to the EPA’s concerns about the felling of Pine trees for the transmission line, the NTDC had maintained that if the latter failed to install HT line for evacuation of power by interconnecting with local grid station Muzaffarabad-II (Rampura), the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) will have to pay penalties (to the Korean company).

When Dawn contacted EPA Director General Raja Mohammad Razzaque, he confirmed that his office had conveyed concerns to all relevant persons in the interest of environment of the area.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2017