Landscape vulnerability and rehabilitation issues: a study of hydropower projects in Garhwal region, Himalaya

Abstract

The Himalaya is known for its rich biodiversity, and it supports the Indian subcontinent with wide varieties of natural resources including the life-sustaining water. Its huge potential to develop micro-hydropower projects is untapped. Large-scale multi-purpose river valley projects are not feasible as the landscape of Garhwal region is highly vulnerable—ecologically fragile, geologically unstable and tectonically and seismically active. Here, the issues of landscape vulnerability and rehabilitation, due to the construction of hydropower projects, are renowned. In Garhwal region, the hydropower projects, which have been constructed and are under construction and proposed, are located in the densely populated river valleys, where terraced arable land is also available. These areas are highly prone to atmospherically triggered hazards—debris flows, flash floods, landslides, mass movements and rockfalls. Rehabilitation of the affected population has been remaining as a major challenge in all the river valley projects from the very onset of the commencement of hydropower projects in Garhwal region. This paper examines the landscape vulnerability and rehabilitation issues related to the hydropower projects in Garhwal region, Himalaya. The author collected the data from the primary and secondary sources and from the rapid field visits of the hydropower project sites. This study reveals that only micro-level hydropower projects are feasible in the fragile landscape of the Garhwal Himalaya, keeping vulnerability and rehabilitation issues in mind.