-The Telegraph Imphal: Environmentalists and NGOs in Manipur have urged the Union ministry of environment and forests not to give clearance to the Tipaimukh dam project, saying it would destroy the environment and impact lives of the people in and around the dam. The opposition to the project has been renewed following reports that the Centre would take a decision on giving clearance to the project in the next few days. Sources said...

-Timescrest.com Three successive CAG reports warned the Uttarakhand govt about the consequences of multiple hydropower projects, and their unpreparedness in the face of disaster. The advice was ignored. With aim of turning Uttarakhand into Urja Pradesh, the state has committed to building 680 dams, currently in various stages of commissioning, construction and planning. The powers that be have expedited the clearances for these projects. However, when it came to the issue of credible...

-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: A major hurdle in increasing the height of Sardar Sarovar dam on Narmada river from the present 121.92 metres to 138.64 metres has been cleared. Both Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh governments said during a meeting convened by Union government's department of social justice on Thursday that the process of rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) has been completed in their respective regions and that they have no objection if...

-The Hindu Could the Uttarakhand tragedy have been avoided, or at least minimised? There is no simple answer. Environmentalists describe the death and damage as a man-made disaster while geologists say the extent of destruction could have been far lesser if stricter regulations had been put in place and the authorities equipped to deal with the situation. Importantly, the events focus attention on the debate on the December 18, 2012 notification of the...

-IANS Shimla: The hydropower projects in Himachal Pradesh -- in private and public sectors -- are not only gobbling up forests but also damaging natural resources, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has found. The compensatory afforestation by the state is highly deficient as 58 percent of the test-checked hydropower projects reported no afforestation at all, the CAG said in its recent report. It pointed out that lack of re-greening of...