No filling of Maheshwar water reservoir, says green tribunal

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal on Thursday stopped the filling up of water reservoir at Maheshwar dam power project in Madhya Pradesh for which the Union environment ministry had given the nod recently.

The NGT bench headed by the tribunal's chairperson Justice A S Naidu ordered a status quo on the proposal for partially filling up the reservoir up to 154 meters.

The government had faced tremendous internal pressure to give the clearance for closing the gates on the dam on river Narmada despite fears of protests breaking out in the region against the move.

The order came in the case filed by two villagers protesting that the submergence would leave to damage to life and livelihood. The project has always been mired in concerns about resettlement and rehabilitation.

The status quo is to be maintained as the NGT hears the case. As the tribunal will be on a month long vacation, project developers Shree Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation Limited, a company of the S Kumar group, could miss its trial runs this season.

The particular hydro-electric project is one of the bigger dams out of more than 150 planned as part of the Narmada Valley Development Project.

The environment ministry on May 1 had altered its previous orders allowing the gates on the reservoir to be closed increasing the water level after the state administration had certified that it would not cause submergence of any villages. Earlier, the ministry had contended that it would permit the construction of the gates but not allow them to be closed down until it was satisfied about the rehabilitation and resettlement situation.

But the petitioners presented the case that the government assurance was based on false evidence. They claimed that the filling up of reservoir would lead to several villages turning into islands with lives heavily impacted.