(Feature Image: Screenshot of Local News India July 06, 2024 video report showing Luhri-I HEP tunnel outlet flooded after rise in Satluj water level.)
The controversial under construction Luhri Hydroelectric Project (HEP) Stage-I is being developed by Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) on Sutlej river near village Nirath village in Shimla and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh. The 210 MW HEP involves construction of an 80 m high concrete gravity dam with six bay gated spillways, a 567 m long horse shoe shaped diversion tunnel, two coffer dams, a surface power house, intake structure and penstocks among other parts.
The project would require 149.07 ha land including of 98.10 ha forest land and 50.97 ha private land. The project dam would create 6 km long reservoir area submerging 100.23 ha of land comprising of 63.52 ha of forest and 36.7 ha of private land. 39.47 ha of the submergence area is riverbed land.
The project got environmental clearance in March 2020 and a budget of ₹1810 crore was approved for it in Nov 2020 by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. In Aug 2021, Patel Engineering and HES Infra were awarded the civil and hydro-mechanical works contract and the foundation stone was laid in Dec 2021 with Jan 2026 set as completion target.
Land Sinking, Floods Impacting Luhri-I HEP
Since the beginning, the local villagers have been protesting the project demanding fair compensation and employment. They have also flagged the issue of irresponsible blasting and disposal of project muck adversely impacting their homes, farms, livelihoods & natural resources.
Now the project has also started suffering damages from climatic and geological threats. In the latest such incident, the land at the outlet of project diversion tunnel caved in and a big hole was formed right above the outlet of the tunnel (Amar Ujala July 8, 2024).
The incident took place around 07:00 am on July 7, 2024. Fortunately, no worker was present at the site during the incident. The report also mentions that a similar land sinking incident had happened at the site in third week June 2024, blocking the tunnel with rubble and debris. Now the hole above the diversion tunnel has added into difficulties of the construction company.
The incident has also panicked Anas, Janas and Baibeel villagers under Dehra Panchayat who have asked SJVNL to take concrete steps regarding safety of the villages and get the project site inspected by the experts. The villages are located uphill the tunnel.
The reports quoted Sunil Chaudhary, Project Head stating rainwater seepage in tunnel portal as reason behind the hole and caving in of land there and promised to get it repaired soon. The SJVNL offcials have not revealed to what extent the tunnel has been damaged but reports claim the project completion will be delayed by at least one year.
Before this, the project tunnel was flooded, and work of dam was affected after rise in water level of Sutlej River (local media July 6, 2024).
Melting of glaciers have also affected progress of the project. In the last week of May 2024, the construction work came to a standstill after rise in Sutlej water level following melting of glaciers (Amar Ujala May 28, 2024).
The report also quoted official of Patel Engineering, the construction company that they were forced to lay off more than three hundred workers as the work would remain stopped for next three months. The official also stated that five dewatering pumps and construction materials worth crores were submerged in the coffer dam of the project apart from damages to approach roads. As per official rise in water level in May was unexpected.
Patel Engineering also suffered financial losses wroth ₹10 -12 crores due to floods in Sutlej river in 2nd week of July 2023. A bailey bridge and construction materials wroth crores at project site were washed away in the floods. The deluge also invaded a project workshop office and workers’ colony forcing evacuation of the workers to safer places (Punjab Kesari).
No Policy to Monitor Under Construction HEP, Dam Projects
The floods damaging and stalling Luhri-I HEP works first in July 2023 then in May, June & July 2024 indicate that the project developer has not installed any safety measures. The Rampur and Nathpa Jakhri projects, both on the same river just upstream from Luhri HEP, are also of the same company, namely SJVN. So, any changes in the flow pattern that can potentially affect the under construction Luhri project can also help taking safety measures for Luhri Project.
If Rampur and Nathpa Jakhri projects have any early warning systems, which they must have, those can also help achieve better safety measures at Luhri HEP. But it is clear that none of these seem operationally available for Lurhi and hence, SJVNL must be held accountable for these damages.
According to officials, State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) all dams and hydro projects whether built or under development are supposed to install EWS and hydro-meteorological station. “If Luhri-I HEP has not done this, it is clear violation of Central Water Commission (CWC) 2015 guidelines and Dam Safety Act (DSA) 2021”, said Praveen Bhardwaj, Disaster Management Specialist, SDMA. However, since there are no written guidelines for under construction projects, there is no monitoring or compliance achieved.
On hearing about these incidents from us, the officials also said that SDMA will apprise Directorate of Energy (DoE) on the Luhri-I HEP flood damage issue. However, the SDMA has itself not prepared any guidelines or directions for under construction HEPs to follow for avoiding damages, risks and threats.
The managers of 412 Mw Rampur HEP immediately upstream from Luhri strangely seem not issuing flood alerts to Luhri-I HEP. Ajay Kumar Sharma, General Manager (GM) SJVNL accepted that there are some management issues involving operational and under construction projects. As per him the Rampur HEP is equipped with EWS, but no details are available about this EWS.
“SJVNL is inquiring into land sinking and cavity formation incidents at diversion tunnel of the Luhri-I HEP”, Sharma said adding that the coffer dams, tunnels and other properties of under construction hydro projects are vulnerable to flood threats and the construction company should take adequate safety precautions. Despite a phone call and a WhatsApp message; Sunil Chaudhary, SJVNL Project Head of Luhri-I HEP did not respond to the queries on the matter, we will update the story if we hear from them.
Loopholes in DSA 2021
In June 2022, government of Himachal Pradesh notified State Dam Safety Organization (SDSO) and State Committee on Dam Safety (SCDS) under DoE as mandated by DSA 2021. However, the Luhri-I HEP case underlines serious loopholes in DSA 2021 as it lacks clear directions for under construction dams and hydro projects.
Deepak Jasrotia Dy. Chief Engineer in DoE who also heads SDSO appeared unaware on land sinking and flood incidents impacting Luhri-I HEP work. “We will look into the matter and bring the project in our flood monitoring network” said Jasrotia adding that Luhri-I HEP is a Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) project and comes under the preview of National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA).
However, when contacted RPS Verma, Senior Engineer, CWC, Chandigarh and head of NDSA, Northern Region responded that NDSA monitors only commissioned projects and under construction projects are not in NDSA list.
EIA Silent on Climatic, Geological Threats
The fact that the Luhri-I HEP has been impacted by glacial melt floods in May 2024 and monsoonal floods in July 2023 & 2024 apart from land sinking in June & July 2024 shows that the project Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has not adequately assessed the climatic and geological risks the project could suffer in construction phase.
In fact, the Environment Management Plan (EMP) of the project EIA has not even suggested any measures to mitigate flood and landslide threats. As a result, these factors have now affected the HEP progress and are bound to escalate project cost and delay its completion.
People’s Resistance Continues
The Luhri-I HEP has also been facing stiff resistance from the local people for not providing fair compensation and employment to the project affected villagers. Further, the violation of environmental norms by the developers has severely impacted land and livelihood of villagers living in project vicinity.
The villagers of 13 panchayats stopped the project work for about a month in March-April 2022 following development of cracks in a dozen of homes of Narola village. The villagers blamed the project company for using excessive blasting for tunnel construction, a reason behind the cracks. The uncontrolled blasting has destabilized rocks uphill Narola village resulting it safety threats for the villagers.
The air pollution created by the explosives and irresponsible dumping of tunnel muck have further damaged farm lands and horticulture crops of the local people apart from causing pollution of water sources including Sutlej River. The affected villagers have been continuously staging protests demanding adequate compensation for damaged homes, lands and crops.
Interestingly, a report in The Tribune dated April 02, 2024, quoted Sunil Chaudhary, Project Head, sharing that “due to the protests by workers, farmers and other disruptions the project had to suffer a loss of ₹ 1.5 cr daily, resulting in the delay of the construction work. Besides, the companies engaged in construction were paid separate compensation for the stoppage of their machinery and other work. He added that so far, an amount of ₹ 15-20 cr has been given to the companies as compensation for such losses.” As per him, by the time of completion the project cost could go beyond ₹ 2,700 cr, compared to earlier estimates of ₹ 1,890 cr.
Meanwhile, the affected people have warned to intensify their agitation if their demands are not addressed in timely manner. On Jul 9, 2024, they under the banner of Himachal Kisan Sabha handed over a memorandum to the district collector Kullu in this regard.
Bhim Singh Rawat (bhim.sandrp@gmail.com)
References:
https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=229189
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=274559725715730
https://clickkhabar.in/?p=18906
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/luhri-project-to-see-light-of-day-by-2026-606399
SANDRP 