Hydel projects adversely affecting livelihood

Conditions of life of the majority of people in Uttarakhand are very difficult at the best of times. More than 70% of the people are farmers who cultivate small plots of hilly land under very harsh conditions for their livelihood. Now their lives are being threatened by the rash of hydel projects that are being built all over the state in the name of “development” and of making Uttarakhand an electric powerhouse.

These hydel projects are being constructed on almost all the rivers that run through the region. Hundreds of villagers have lost or are in danger of losing their livelihood as the state government takes over their land to build the barrages, roads, and colonies associated with the projects.

The government is acquiring not just the land being cultivated by the villagers, but also the common lands that play a vital role in the economic as well as social life of the village, such as grazing lands, cremation grounds, and water sources.

Apart from loss of livelihood, the projects are also endangering the fragile ecology of the sub-Himalayan region. Tunnels are being dug into the hillsides to channel river waters towards the project sites. The explosives used to make the tunnels are damaging the rock structures of the hills. Together with the problem of soil above the tunnels subsiding, this has caused dangerous cracks in houses and other structures. It has already led to the hasty evacuation of whole villages.

The artificial channeling of water into underground tunnels also affects the availability of surface and ground water in the surrounding areas, and can lead to aridity, loss of crops and forest cover. This has already happened in Chayin village near the site where JP Associates constructed a 400 megawatt power project on the Alaknanda Ganga.

Thus we can clearly see how such ill-conceived “development” is undertaken against the interests of the people and without concern for the natural environment, primarily to fill the pockets of some big companies and contractors and their collaborators in the government.

What is more, the farce of holding “public hearings” to get the approval of the affected villagers is being assiduously carried out. Technically, such public approvals are necessary to get clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forests at the Centre. But as shown by the proceedings of the public hearings held in the region of Joshimath, where five projects are being undertaken, not even a single project was approved at these hearings. Yet, things were managed in such a way that the Ministry's clearance was obtained for the projects!

As a result, public anger with these projects is mounting. The affected people are demanding of the government various measures to protect their livelihood and improve their conditions of life.

The problems facing the people of Uttarakhand have their root in the fact that the Indian economy is driven by the motive of maximum profit through the exploitation and ruination of vast masses, and political power in our country vests in the bourgeoisie. Whenever the bourgeoisie and its politicians talk of “development”, what they hide is that their only concern is filling the coffers of the money bags. There is no concern for whether it benefits people, or harms them. There is no concern about harmonizing the interests of the individual and collectives, with general interest of society. The fact that these projects are being carried out only for maximum profits, and the fact that the interests of the people of the region where these power projects are being established are given a go by, is deliberately left in shade. Why is it that large number of villagers in Uttarakhand are still suffering without electricity? Why is it there are no power projects to provide electricity to these villagers? These issues are also left in the shade.

As they resist the attacks on their livelihood, it is important that the people of Uttarakhand take up the struggle to wrest political power from hands of bourgeoisie in order to reorient the economy in the direction of providing for all.