Tehri Dam

Tehri Dam
A Case Study on Sociological and Environmental Aspects
Dayalram Shiv Kumar Meena Pavan Meena
Indian Institute of Technology, Jammu
December, 2020

Content
1 Why Dam?
2 Introduction
3 History
4 Project Details
5 Project Beneﬁts
6 Issues and Protests
7 Major Concerns
8 Mitigation Measures
9 Realities
10 Conclusion
Dayal, Shiv, Pavan (IIT Jammu) Tehri Dam December, 2020 2 / 35

Why Dam?
Hydro power is a clean,renewable,low-cost alternative.
Reliable and more efficient than any other form of electricity
generation.
Supports various kinds of aesthetic and recreation activities.
Other benefits: manage flood water, irrigate fields and provide
water supply.

Introduction
Initially taken up by the irrigation department of Uttar Pradesh
government.
In 1998, was taken over by a joint venture company of the
government of India and Uttar Pradesh government, called the
Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC)

History
1949 Tehri dam conceived.
1961 Tehri chosen as a tentative site for the dam
1972 Planning Commission gives its signal for the dam.
1978 Actual construction of the dam begins under police
protection.

Timeline for Tehri Dam
Tehri Development Project
approved in 1972
Construction started 1978
Coﬀerdam completed 1996
Closure of last two tunnels
December 2002
Projected completion August
2003

Project Details
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 spillway 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.

Beneﬁts to the Nation
Capacity: Power generation capacity of 2400 MW (highest in
India).
The electricity produced from the dam is distributed to Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Jammu &
Kashmir, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Himanchal Pradesh.
The dam would also provide irrigation to an area of 670,000
hectares and supply 270 million gallons of drinking water per day
to industrialized area of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Project Beneﬁts
All round development of the region through better
infrastructure and easy avalaibility of electricity.
Development of Fish farming.
Note :- Tehri Development Project also includes the 97 meter
high Koteshwar Dam, under construction 14 miles downstream
of Tehri Dam. The 400 MW Koteshwar Dam will either
completely or partially submerge 16 villages

Benefits to Affected Population
Development of Hill Station
Better Road Network
Education
Health
Electrification
Drinking water Facilities
Setting of new Industries
Tourism
Commercial Center

Negative Impacts
Change in the
1 Water chemistry, especially with respect to dissolved oxygen and
2 Turbidity of water.
Tehri dam reservoir water shows lower turbidity as compared to
river water. River Bhagirathi had unique features of the presence
of certain radioactive elements and specific groups of coliphages
that are likely to maintain self-preservation of the water.
Impact on biodiversity, i.e. flora and fauna of the area.
Obstruction of movements of migrating fish species during
breeding season.

Issues Relating Tehri Dam
Human Rights: Forced displacement of people Diverting water
from poor communities
Environmental: Catastrophic ﬂood danger, Multiple
environmental review recommending cancellation
Corruption: Six corruption cases, CBI Inquiry but no result

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

Protests
Images of protests

Obsolete Dam Design
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

Seismic Risks
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

Floods
If the dam fails or a major landslide causes a huge wave to
overtop the reservoir , a 260 m 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
December 2001 : main bridge leading to Tehri town and nearby
areas submerged.
Can lead to complete submergence of Tehri town and
surrounding villages.

Forced Resettlement
Around 1 lakh people aﬀected
directly or indirectly No
resettlement plan: some given
compensation, some house, others
nothing

Displacement and Rehabilitation
Although land acquisition started
in 1979, resettlement of affected
people is far from complete There
is no master plan for rehabilitation
nor even a clear estimate of the
number of people affected
According to the 2002 Status
Report of the Public Works
Department of Tehri large number
of people who will lose their lands
but have not been officially
recognised as project-affected

Popular Resistance and Review
Tehri Dam has met strong popular
resistance from its earliest days. In
1978 a Committee to Oppose the
Tehri Dam or the Tehri Bandh
Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti
(TBVSS) was formed. TVBSS
succeeded in pressuring authorities
to review the project on several
occasions.

The project was abandoned in the mid 1980s after being sharply
criticized on environmental grounds by a government appointed
review committee
In 1987 the project was again referred to a committee of the
Ministry of Environment to assess its safety and environmental
and social impacts. This committee unanimously ruled against
the project but the Indian government overruled its ﬁndings and
restarted the project

After a 74-day hunger strike in 1996, Sunderlal Bahuguna, a
Gandhian activist and long-time opponent of the dam, forced
the government to set up a review of the seismic, environmental
and rehabilitation aspects of the project.
Hanumantha Rao Committee submitted its report and
recommendations in 1997. The government has failed to
implement most of the committee’s recommendations, especially
those concerning rehabilitation
In 1992 environmentalists ﬁled a case in the Supreme Court
alleging that project authorities had not acquired the mandatory
environmental clearance for the dam.

Financial Viability Issues
A cost-beneﬁts 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.

Environmental issues
The Tehri Dam has been the
object of protests by
environmental organizations and
local people of the region.
Environmental activist Sunderlal
Bahuguna led the Anti-Tehri Dam
movement for years, from 1980s
till 2004
A protest message against Tehri dam, which
was steered by Sundarlal Bahuguna for years. It
says “We don’t want the dam. The dam is the
mountain’s destruction.”

Environmental Issues
The protest was against the displacement of town inhabitants
and environmental consequence of the weak ecosystem.
In addition to the human rights concerns, the project has spurred
concerns about the environmental consequences of locating such
a large dam in the fragile ecosystem of the Himalayan foothills.
There are further concerns regarding the dam’s geological
stability. The Tehri dam is located in the Central Himalayan
Seismic Gap, a major geologic fault zone. This region was the
site of a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in October 1991, with an
epicenter 53 kilometer’s (33 mi) from the location of the dam.

Environmental Issues
Dam proponents claim that the complex is designed to
withstand an earthquake of 8.4 magnitude but 7.4 in reality, but
some seismologists say that earthquakes with a magnitude of 8.5
or more could occur in this region were such a disaster to occur,
the potentially resulting dam- break would submerge numerous
towns downstream, whose populations total near half a million.
The relocation of more than 100,000 people from the area has
led to protracted legal battles over resettlement rights, and
ultimately resulted in the project’s delayed completion

Other Concerns
Life of Dam : Projected 100 years due to 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

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

Images

Measures for Ecological Impacts
Compensatory Afforestation: afforestation in an area of 4586.07
ha. In Lalitpur and Jhansi District.
Catchment area treatment: To reduce soil erosion and 52.204
ha. treated
Command area development: To mitigate water logging and
sanity and the network of field and drains were developed
Flora and Fauna: Botanical garden (14.28ha.) to preserve
important flora and Mahseer fish hatchery and fish farm

Water quality maintenance: No adverse eﬀect on the water
quality and 5 monitoring stations at upstream and downstream.
Green belt: Along the rim of the reservoir
Along the rim of the reservoir and resultant siltation to protect
and regenerate the vegetation to increase the natural beauty

Better quality of living: Urban- better facilities, scope foe
expansion, planned growth
Rural: better infrastructure and better quality of life new road
network and taped drinking water supply
Employment generating schemes: dependent of the project
aﬀected families was preferred for jobs in THDC for treatment
and soil conservation work
Income generating schemes: Khadi production cum training
center
Mushroom cultivation training organized by UP state
Horticulture & food preservation deptt.

Realities
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
Governments rehabilitation policy does not clearly state anything
about partially submerged villages

Conclusion

Tehri Dam

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