These slides tried to cover about vast social and environmental impact of hydro power project in Uttarakhand Himalayas.

1. TOPIC : ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL
IMPACTS OF HYDROPOWER
DEVELOPMENT IN THE UTTARAKHAND
HIMALAYAS
Presented by
Naveen Tripathi
M.Sc 3rd Semester
Department of
Environmental
Sciences

2. INTRODUCTION
 Every thing what had happened in the
universe is the flow of energy in one form
to another.
 The standard of living of a country can be
directly related to per capita energy
consumption.
 Today every country draws its energy
needs from a variety of sources .

3.  We can broadly categorize these sources as
Primary sources and Secondary sources of
energy.
 Primary sources include coal, natural gas, oil
and nuclear energy whereas Secondary
sources includes solar energy, wind energy,
water energy etc.
 Better sources are wind, tide, sun and
hydroelectric applications.

4. ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION IN INDIA
Coal
59%
Hydroelectric
17%
Renewable
sources
12%
Natural gas
9%
Nuclear
2% Oil
1%

5. NON CONVENTIONAL FORM OF
ENERGY
 Non conventional sources of energy are the
energy resources which are infinite, natural
and restorable.
 It mainly includes renewable sources of
energy which causes minimum
environmental pollution.
 It includes solar power, tidal power, wind
energy, geothermal power, biomass energy,
hydel power and atomic energy.

6. HYDRO POWER / HYDROELECTRICITY
 Energy stored in water could be utilized to
generate electricity.
 There are two types of energy possessed by
river namely kinetic energy and potential
energy.
 In hydroelectric power plant the potential
energy of water due to its high location is
converted into electricity.
 The total power generation of hydroelectric
power plants depends on the height of water
and volume of water flowing towards the
water turbine.

7.  The hydroelectric power plant also known as
dam built on a large river which has sufficient
amount of water throughout the year to
produce electricity.
 Some of the important dams of India are
namely :
 Tehri Dam, Uttarakhand ( 2400 MW)
 Nagarjun Sagar Dam, Andhra Pradesh
(1965MW)
 Sardar Sarovar Dam, Gujarat ( 1450 MW)

9. DEPENDING UPON POWER GENERATION
CAPACITY DAMS ARE OF FOLLOWING TYPES:
Pico : Power range 0-5 KW
generates power for about 5 homes.
Micro : Power ranges 5kw-10kw
generates power for about 5-100 homes
for e.g. ;
Small: Power generation up to 10 MW
for example :
Large : power generation above 10 MW
for example : Tehri dam, Sardar Sarovar
dam etc.

10. HYDROPOWER PROJECTS IN UTTARAKHAND

11. PHYSIOGRAPHY OF UTTARAKHAND
 Uttrakhand region has met great elevations
(Nanda Devi,7816m) and mean elevation
reaching 2230.6 (sd 1677m).
 About 10.51 percent of geographical area lies
above 5000m.
 The valley region (1000-2000m) covers
maximum area (32.5%). Lower valleys and
Outer Himalayan region also covers (25.5%)
area below 1000 meters of elevations.

12.  In Uttarakhand, the estimated capacity of Small
hydropower projects is about 1500 MW out of
total estimated capacity of 20,363 MW
 Uttarakhand has a large network of rivers and
canals which provides an immense scope for
hydro-power energy This province is also
having the origin of some of the ice-fed rivers
like the Bhagirathi, Alaknanda, (Ganges), Tons
,Yamuna, etc.
 Thus the availability of ice fed and rain fed
rivers along with the natural incline make this
province a State having a good hydro power
potential and a future Energy State.

13. HYDRO POWER POTENTIAL IN THE
UTTARAKHAND

Estimated capacity ( MW) Hydropower Projects
500-1000 Tehri dam(Bhag.)
Vishnugad(Dhauli) ,Chammi
ningaon(Yamuna),Purnagiri(Sarda)
250-500 Nandprayag(Alaknanda),Dhauliga
nga(dhauliganga)
Koteshwar(Bhagirathi),KotliBhel(IB
)(Ganga),Devsari(Pinder),
SriNagar(Alaknanda)
100-250 Chibro(tons),Ramganga,Chilla(Ga
nga),Khodri(tons),Kotibhel(IA)
(Bhagirathi),Lata
Tapowan(Tapovan),Chungarchal(G

14. IMPACTS OF HYDROPOWER PROJECTS
 Dam construction : Disruption of river flows
biotic changes, disruption of natural
functions,e.g sediments, river pollution, loss of
aesthetic values, economic and recreational
values .
 It includes following two types of impacts :
 1.Environmental impacts
 2.Social impacts

15. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF HYDROPOWER
River Bhagirathi upstream

16. Minimal flow of downstream from hydropower leads to loss of river
biota and river integrity.

17. Environmental Impacts :
Biodiversity

18. SOCIAL IMPACTS
a) Drying of
springs

19. (B) HOUSING DAMAGES DUE TO BLASTING

20. CASE STUDY : TEHRI DAM
 Location : on Bhagirathi river and Bhilanagana
river ( 200 miles North East of
Delhi)
 Height : 855 feet ( 261m)
5th tallest in the world
 Capacity : power generation capacity of 2400MW
 Provision of irrigation of an area of 2lakh 70
thousands ha. in state of UP, Uttarakhand and
Delhi.
 Tehri Dam is situated in the highly active Central
Himalayan Seismic Zone. It is designed to
withstand earthquakes of up to 7.2 on the Richter
scale although experts predict that earthquakes of

21. TIMELINE FOR TEHRI DAM
 Tehri development project approved in 1972.
 Construction started in 1978
 Cofferdam completed 1996
 Closure of last two tunnels 2002
 Project completion 2003

22. BENEFITS TO AFFECTED POPULATION
 Development of hill station.
 Better road network.
 Education
 Health
 Electrification
 Drinking water facilities
 Setting of new industries
 Tourism
 Commercial center

23. ISSUES RELATED 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.
.1978 – Tehri Bandh Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti ( TBVSS)
.74 day hunger strike in 1996 y Sundarlal Bahuguna
. Many anti-dam rallies and protests.

24.  Ecological Impacts of Tehri Dam on
Environment:
 (a)Impact on hydrology- During the period of reservoir
storage, the downstream of Tehri dam water discharge
of Bhagirathi River is reduced to mere 2 cusec from
the normal discharge of 1,000 cusecs.
 (b)Impacts on forest- Forest land of 4193.813 ha were
diverted for construction of Tehri Dam Project and
Koteshwar Project (in the downstream of Tehri
Project). In addition, for 1358.20 ha forest-land
diverted in second phase for rural resettlement, the
compensatory a forestation has been carried out in
2716.40 ha of degraded forest-land of Khanpur forest
range in Haridwar District.
 Impact on biodiversity , i.e., flora and fauna of the area

25. TEHRI TOWN DURING DAM CONSTRUCTION

26. SUBMERGED TEHRI TOWN AFTER DAM
CONSTRUCTION

28. SOCIAL IMPACT
 Loss of aesthetic values
 Loss of their parental life style
 Loss of culture and traditions
 Loss of recreational activities.
 Difficulties in adoption of new place

29. CONCLUSION
 The hydropower projects and its impact on
development activities especially for hydropower
projects have been a regular phenomenon in
Uttarakhand. In the development of hydropower
sector EIA has been the most effective tool in impact
analysis its revels the bad and good affects of
hydropower projects. A good EIA (Environmental
Impact Analysis) study is good legislative framework
takes care of all the pertinent issues and provides
good and implementable solutions that are
acceptable to all the parties such as: project
proponents, local inhabitants, financiers and the
government .So, it is highly recommended that
instead of flatly arguing for or against any
development project or dam it is always good to go
for an extensive EIA study, which will automatically
determine the impact of the project.

30. I hold that economic progress in the sense I
have put it ( of material advancement
without limits) is antagonistic to real (
moral) progress.
_ Mahatma Gandhi