Compensate Uttarakhand for environment conservation efforts: Harish Rawat, Uttarakhand CM

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat has said the hill state must be compensated for compromising its economic growth to conserve natural resources.

Speaking at the ' Namami Gange' programme presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi yesterday, Rawat said the declaration of Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone had stalled projects above the capacity of 2 MW.

According to the notification, the state cannot commission 16 hydel projects of 1743 MW.

Consequently, the state will suffer a loss of Rs 3581 crore annually.

The government also has to call off 34 projects of 4069 MW due to the decision of the Supreme Court as well as declaration of eco sensitive zone from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi, the chief minister was quoted as saying at the programme by an official release here.

Due to deficiency of fossil fuel, Uttarakhand was purchasing 800 MW Electricity worth Rs 1000 crore, he said.

If utilisation of hydel projects could be optimised, Uttarakhand could produce as much electricity as Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, Rawat said.

He demanded that the state be compensated for for its efforts to conserve river Ganga.

Projects of less than 25 MW in eco sensitive zones which do not pose any threat to ecology must be allowed to continue, he said.

Rawat also said that the Centre must provide the entire amount to the state for river Ganga 's clean-up, besides bearing the expenses over repair of river related infrastructure damaged in 2013 flash floods.