Beginning of the End A Preliminary Report on the Jispa Dam and Hydro-power Project on Chenab Basin Lahaul-Spiti, Himachal Pradesh HIM DHARA EVIRONMENT RESEARCH AND ACTION COLLECTIVE1, PALAMPUR NOVEMBER 2011 1 Him Dhara is an environment research and action collective based in Palampur© Himachal Pradesh. For further details please contact at [email protected] Beginning of the End A Preliminary Report on the Jispa Dam and Hydro-power Project Lahaul-Spiti, Himachal Pradesh November 2011 Financial Support : INTERNATIONAL RIVER NETWORKS (IRN) and RURAL TECOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER (RTDC), PALAMPUR (HIMACHAL PRADESH) Research and Writing : This report has been written by Prakash Bhandari - member of Him Dhara, Environment Research and Action Collective based in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. Editorial Support : Manshi Asher and Nidhi Agarwal - members of Him Dhara, Environment Research and Action Collective based in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. This report, or its parts can be used freely. Please do inform us of the usage and acknowledge the source and inform us of the reproduction at [email protected]. 1. Background Of the five major river basins in Himachal, the Chenab basin is the least exploited basin for Hydro Electricity generation. The Chenab is a glacial river which originates from Bara Lacha pass in Lahaul division of Lahaul Spiti district. The water flow towards south forms Chandra River and the water flow towards north forms the Bhaga River and both rivers confluence at Tandi forms Chenab. In Himachal it's basin is spread over a distance of 130 kms and flows through the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir into the plains of the Punjab, Pakistan. In Himachal Chenab basin has total hydro power generation potential of 3032.3 MW. In this stretch 20 HEPs (Annexure-1) have been planned but out of this only 5.35 MW of hydro energy has been exploited as the area is inaccessible and remain snow bound and cut off from the rest of the world for 6 months. Table-1: Basinwise Potential in H.P. Basin Hydro Power Potenial Beas Basin 4604.00 MW Ravi Basin 2359.00 MW Satluj Basin 9450.25 MW Yamuna Basin 591.52 MW Chenab Basin 3032.30 MW Mini Micro Projects 750 MW Total 20787.07 MW (Source: http://www.hpseb.com/hydro_potential.htm) The part of Chenab basin falling in Jammu and Kashmir state already has 6 major dam projects i.e. Salal, Baglihar (900 MW) Kishenganga (330 MW), Sawalkot (1200 MW), Pakuldul (1000 MW), Bursar (1000 MW), Dal Husti (390 MW) under various stages of planning and construction. In Himachal with the initiation of construction work of Rohtang tunnel the not so accessible Lahual and Spiti valley will now have year round transportation facility which will subsequently be followed by initiation of the spate of HEP in the basin which have been in the pipeline so far. This report takes a look at the probable impacts that will be unleashed as a result of the 300 MW Jispa dam ,the first major hydro electricity project in this river basin in Himachal. Map-12: Hydro power projects on Chenab 2(Source: IUCN, 2010. Indus Water Treaty and Managing Shared Water Resources for the Benefit of Basin States Policy Issues and Options. IUCN Pakistan, Karachi) 2. Background and Current Status of the Project The Jispa dam is coming up along the Leh -Chandigarh national highway, 140 kms from Manali, on river Bhaga. The river is a tributary of Chandra Bhaga/Chenab river. The dam is proposed to be located downstream of the confluence point of the Jankar and Milang streams and the river Bhaga. The Jispa dam is a 200 meter high rock fill dam at an altitude of 3245 meters amsl and is envisaged to be primarily a water storage scheme to regulate downstream flow of the river and to generate 300 MW of electricity. Photograph 1: Dam site - both the banks are The project when initially fluviogacial deposits brought by avalanches conceptualized, was a 170 MW, run-of- the-river hydro electricity project under the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB). But in August 2008 the Central Government declared it a ©National Water Resource© project and modified it from a mere hydro electric project to a water storage project with hydro electric generation. As the project received the status of a ©national© Map 2: Location map of Jispa dam project project, the State Government of HP alloted the Jispa dam project to Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL). The Project pre-feasibility proposal for Jispa dam, for consideration of Scoping and Terms of Reference (ToR) , was put up by HPPCL in 43rd Meeting of Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment held on 12th and 13th November, 2010. The Committee was of the opinion that the submergence area and number of affected villages (see table below (Source: Pre-feasibility proposal report of Jispa dam project prepared by for details) need to be HPPCL) brought to the minimum by reducing the height of dam and did not accept the proposal. In the 48th meeting of the EAC, HPPCL again put up the case with some minor changes but without reducing the height of dam as suggested by EAC earlier and despite this EAC approved the ToR with some conditions. Table-2 : Important Features of Jispa Dam Project S.No. Initial pre feasibility Proposal Changed pre feasibility Proposal Location Dam near Jispa village and3.2 kms upstream of Jispa village power house at Stingri village and power house at Stingri village Height of the Dam 200 meters 200 meters Capacity 300 MW 300 MW HRT 11.75 kms 14.96 kms Storage capacity 1 MAF 0.7 MAF Total land required 1635 hectares 1322.95 hectares Forest Area 1500 ha 1253.70 ha Private land 135 ha 69.25 ha Submergence Area 1500 hectares 1220 hectares Submerged villages 5 4 No. of displaced families131 74 (Source: Pre feasibility report and EAC meeting minutes) Being a national project the Central government will bear 90% cost of the project and the Center agreed to release funds for the preparation of detailed project report, environment impact assessment and environment management plan. The Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited has sought Rs 30 crore for the purpose. 3. Issues of Concern 3.1. Dam of this magnitude not suitable in such a fragile and sensitive zone The region where this project is coming up is in the snowbound cold desert area of the state and at an altitude more than 3000 meters. The area is characterised by difficult terrain, fragile and loose mountains prone to avalanches and landslides and falls in seismic zone- IV . Due to these reasons Lahaul is sparsely inhabited with a population density of 2 persons per sq. kms. In such an area construction of a reservoir spread over more than 1200 ha area and drying up of Photograph:2 Dam site which is 3.4 kms upstream of Jispa river in a stretch of village & a portion of road to Leh will submerge 18 kms will have serious implications on local climatic conditions. Any rise in temperature and rainfall can bring havoc in the form of avalanches and landslides and can cause disasters similar to the kind that happened in Leh in August 2010. 3.2. Adverse impact on livelihood and local economy There are 12 villages (Darcha-1 and 2, Sumdu, Limkyum, Rarik, Gandaj, Balijim, Yoche, Chikka, Dogma, Nama, Ranglyo, Makseen) which will be completely/partially submerged by the project, displacing more than 250 families Additionally, 40 shops will be also be submerged by the dam. Around 10 villages (Jispa, Kaimur, Khangsan, Sorang, Kalong, Rangrik, Kwaing, Sitangiri, Kwang etc) will be impacted by drying up of water sources due to construction of 18 kms long head race tunnel. Lahaul and Spiti district has the highest irrigation intensity for the area under cultivation in the State. This means that the entire area under cultivation is irrigated, without which no agriculture would be possible in such harsh dry cold desert climatic conditions. The village settlements are supported by the community owned and run kuhls (irrigation channels). The area is known for cultivation of high quality Potatoes, Hops, Kuth (Saussurea costus) and Peas and is now moving towards Apple orchards, Photograph 3: Pea cultivation along river bank and without floriculture (Lilium) and off irrigation agriculture is not possible season vegetable cultivation (cabbage, carrot etc) with a rise in local temperatures. The fertile agriculture fields along the river face submergence and the sources of irrigation for the fields in higher altitudes will dry up due to the the under ground construction of the project which will hamper agriculture badly. A typical family in Lahaul possesses 4- 5 cows, 25-30 goats and sheep, 5-6 horses and Yak and Chiru, this livestock is reared for one©s own survival and sometimes for cash. Submergence of more than 1200 hectares of forestland/grass plots along the river will make livestock rearing difficult as in winters agriculture fields and grasslands along the river are the only source of fodder. There is no doubt that this project will destroy both the agriculture and livestock economy of the area. It is based on these two occupations that the Lahaul and Spiti district has the Photograph 4: Alpine pastures for summer grazing used highest per capita income in the state. by migratory communities and local community 3.3. Adverse impact on biodiversity Being sparsely populated, there is little pressure on forest resources currently because of which there are good forests of Junipers (Devidyar) and Birch (Bhojpatra) in the area which are very slow growing .