TEHRI DAM & ITS IMPLICATIONS

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1. Tehri Dam

2. Why Dams?? Introduction : Tehri Dam History Project Details Benefits Issues and Protests Major Concerns Mitigation Measures Realities Conclusion Refernces

3. Hydro-power is a clean, renewable, low-cost alternative. Flexible and reliable and more efficient than any other form of electricity generation. Supports various kinds of aesthetic and recreational activities. Other benefits : manage floodwater, irrigate fields, and provide water supply

4. Initially taken up by the Irrigation Department of the Uttar Pradesh government. In 1988, was taken over by a joint venture company of the Government of India and the Uttar Pradesh government, called the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation(THDC)

5. History

6. First multipurpose river valley project on Bhagirathi, the main tributary of the Ganga. 260.5m high earth and rockfill dam, spillway structures and an underground power house. The spillways have been designed for a Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) of 15540 cumecs computed for a return frequency of 1 in 10,000 years at the project site. Four diversion tunnels

7. Benefits To Nation / Region

8. Benefits To Affected Population Development of Hill Station Better Road Network Education Health Electrification Drinking Water Facilities Setting of New Industries Tourism Commercial Centre

9. Change in the (i) water chemistry, especially with respect to dissolved oxygen and (ii) turbidity of water. Impact on biodiversity, i.e., flora and fauna of the area. Obstruction of movements of migrating fish species during breeding season. Reduction in the capacity and life of reservoir was studied

10. 1978 - Tehri Bandh Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti (TBVSS) 74-day hunger strike in 1996 by Sunderlal Bahuguna Many Anti-dam rallies and protest

11. Protester with anti-Tehri Dam slogans Work stopped

12. Major Concerns

13. The design of the dam was finalized in the 1960s when scientific understanding of seismic hazards and seismic engineering solutions were far less advanced than today

14. Location : world's most earthquake-prone regions with several fault lines traversing the project area. Not adequately equipped to withstand earthquakes of the magnitude expected during its life span Designed for 7.2 ; expected : 8.5 or more One of the leading seismologists in the world, Professor James Brune , has described Tehri as “one of the most dangerous dams world-wide.”

15. If the dam fails or a major landslide causes a huge wave to overtop the reservoir, a 260-meter high flood wave would crash down into the densely populated valleys below the dam, burying the towns of Rishikesh, Hardwar, Bijnor, Meerut, Hapur and Bulandshahar within hours and devastating large areas of the Gangetic Plains. Estimate : 10 million people

16. December 2001 : main bridge leading to Tehri town and nearby areas submerged. Can lead to complete submergence of Tehri Town and surrounding villages.

17. Tehri Dam then and now

18. Massive transfer of water from the Himalayan region to New Delhi, where the average per capita consumption of water is 250 liters per day as compared to 10 liters per day for the villagers of the Tehri region “The Tehri project is stealing from the poor to subsidize the rich,” says Bahuguna .

19. Around 1 lakh affected directly or indirectly. No resettlement plan : some given compensation , some house , others nothing rehabilitation appalling, even though a sum of Rs 1117.15 lakhs is reported to have been spent

20. A cost-benefit analysis by the Indian National Trust for Art and Culture Heritage (INTACH) came to the conclusion that the costs of the US$2 billion project will be at least twice as high as the expected benefits. Tehri is “an enormous squandering of public money.

21. 1980 : Rs.206 crores 1994 : Estimated price - US$612 million 1999 : Estimated price - US$1.2 billion On Completion of first phase : July 2006 More than US$ 2.5 billion

22. Life of Dam Projected 100 years due to the huge volume of sediment that will be trapped in its reservoir – reduced to 30-40 Cost of electricity per unit almost trice the average cost of power supply in the neighboring states

23. NEW TEHRI

24. Situated at an elevation between 1550 to 1950 mts. A modern and well planned town Important centre of attraction

25. Tehri in pictures

26. Old Tehri

27. Just Before the construction

28. Tehri Dam Lake

29. Bridge Across Tehri Dam

30. Construction Work

31. Muddy waters from Tehri Dam construction

32. Diversion Tunnel

33. Top View

34. Submerging Tehri

35. New Tehri

36. MITIGATION Measures

37. Measures For Ecological Impacts

38. Measures For Social Impacts

39. Compensation has been reserved for those who had land in their name before 1985 Only Who had more than half of their lands acquired qualify for complete rehabilitation Government's rehabilitation policy does not clearly state anything about partially submerged villages

40. “This is a dam built with our tears” ………… Sunderlal Bahuguna