Relevance: GS Paper III (Conservation, environmental clearance; disaster management) | Source: The Hindu & The Indian Express
In a joint affidavit (19 May 2026), the Ministries of Environment, Jal Shakti and Power told the Supreme Court that the Centre does not want any new hydel (hydropower) projects in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi river valleys of Uttarakhand. Only the seven already built will continue.
1. The story so far
- Â Â Â Â The case goes back to the 2013 Kedarnath floods, which killed over 5,000 people.
- Â Â Â Â Expert Body-I (under Ravi Chopra, 2014): 23 of 24 projects would badly harm the rivers.
- Â Â Â Â Expert Body-II (B.P. Das, 2020): allowed up to 26 projects with changes.
-     A Cabinet Secretary committee then cut 21 projects to 5. Now the Centre rejects even those 5 — citing too many dams, earthquake risk, and repeated disasters (2021 Rishiganga flood; 2025 Dharali flash flood).
Fig: How 24 proposed projects were slowly cut down to seven — and no new ones.
2. Why this matters
- Â Â Â Â The already 7 cleared projects (over 2,150 MW, like the Tehri pumped-storage) are kept because money is already spent and they lie outside the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone.
- Â Â Â Â One dam after another (‘bumper-to-bumper’) chokes the river’s natural flow.
- Â Â Â Â It is a clash between clean-energy needs and a fragile, quake-prone Himalaya that faces GLOFs (sudden glacier-lake floods).
UPSC Value Box
| Term / Provision / Body | Simple meaning & how it is used |
| Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) | A protected buffer around fragile areas where activities are limited, under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. |
| Run-of-the-river project | A dam with little storage; less flooding of land, but it still changes the natural river flow. |
| GLOF | Glacial Lake Outburst Flood — a sudden flood when a glacier-lake bursts; a big Himalayan danger. |
| Cumulative Impact | Looking at the combined effect of all dams on a whole river, not one dam at a time. |
 3. The way forward
- Â Â Â Â Study a river’s carrying capacity for the whole basin before clearing any dam.
- Â Â Â Â Strengthen GLOF early-warning under NDMA rules.
- Â Â Â Â Prefer pumped-storage, solar and wind over risky new hydel.
Conclusion: In a warming, shaking Himalaya, caution is the best disaster management. Protecting the Ganga’s free flow protects both people and long-term energy security.
UPSC Mains Practice Question
- “In the Himalaya, building more hydropower and staying safe from disasters increasingly clash.” Critically examine with reference to the Ganga basin. (15 marks, 250 words)
Answer hints:
- Â Â Â Â Intro: The Centre’s affidavit refusing new Upper-Ganga dams.
- Â Â Â Â Body: Kedarnath 2013, Chopra report, too many dams, quakes and GLOFs vs energy needs and sunk costs.
- Â Â Â Â Value-add: Eco-Sensitive Zone, NDMA, Tehri pumped-storage, glacier-lake floods.
-     Conclusion: Plan by river carrying-capacity; keep the Ganga’s flow free.
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