Hydro-power plants partly blamed for deadly India floods

 Hydropower projects in northern India were partly to blame fordevastating floods last year that killed thousands, a government report hasconcluded, in a warning to other Himalayan nations investing in the alternativeenergy source.Floods and landslides caused by early monsoon rains tore through the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand last June leaving more than 5,500 people dead or missing, anddestroying villages and towns. The world's second most populous country has turned to hydropower projects in theHimalayas for electricity as it seeks to curb its reliance on coal-fed plants as well asreducing its crippling power shortages.Pakistan, China, Bhutan and Nepal are also eyeing expansion of hydropower in theHimalayan range to varying degrees, often in ecologically fragile areas.In a report commissioned by the Indian government, a panel of experts said some of the more than 30 hydropower projects had caused a build up of sediment inUttarakhand's rivers, including soil dug up during construction and dumped on thebanks.When record-high rainfall hit the region, rivers burst their banks, sending tonnes ofwater as well as the sediment downstream, exacerbating the flooding that washedaway roads, bridges and whole buildings.The damage was due to a combination of the quantity of flood water and thesediment loads carried by the rivers," the report obtained by AFP late Tuesday said."Muck (sediment) management is a crucial issue. Current practices need to bereviewed and technically sound and ecologically sustainable ways of muckmanagement in Uttarakhand have to be proposed to protect the people and theterrain from a June 2013 type of situation," it said.The report also said that although politicians considered the production and sale ofhydropower as "essential" for revenue, employment and economic growth, theecologically fragile region must be better protected.It said 23 out of 24 proposed projects that it studied in the region should not beallowed to continue if they were being built close to protected or vulnerable areas.The report, which was handed to the government and the Supreme Court this month,called for a single government department to manage conservation issues in the Himalayas."It is important that the matter of conservation of Himalaya be addressed withutmost sincerity by a designated department/ ministry in the central government,"the report said.It also recommended studies be conducted across the region to better understandthe impact of multiple plants, the effects of deforestation, tunnelling, blasting andreservoirs on the environment.Hydropower currently accounts for 17.4 percent of India's electricity but many moreprojects are currently being developed, including 92 that have been commissionedin Uttarakhand.