Save Lahaul-Spiti Society Opposes Proposed Chandra-Beas Link Power Project, Warns of Mass Agitation
SHIMLA/KEYLONG: Strong opposition is mounting against the proposed hydropower project in the Rohtang region that aims to divert the waters of the Chandra River into the Beas basin for power generation.
Raising serious environmental concerns, B. S. Rana, president of the Save Lahaul-Spiti Society, said the fragile Himalayan region cannot withstand another large-scale infrastructure intervention in the name of development or national security.
Reacting to reports published by the web portal www.himbumail.com and local media channels regarding the proposed ₹2,356-crore project with a claimed power generation capacity of 4,000 MW, Rana warned that the entire Pir Panjal region has become ecologically vulnerable due to increasing landslides, soil erosion and climatic instability over the past few years.
“Both sides of the Pir Panjal are extremely fragile environmentally. In the last four years, the region has become highly prone to landslides and erosion. Such a massive project could prove disastrous not only for Lahaul-Spiti but also for downstream regions along the Beas including Kullu, Mandi, Kangra and even Punjab,” Rana said.
While condemning violence and tensions along the western border, Rana said environmental destruction cannot become a response to geopolitical conflict.
“We strongly oppose violent tendencies developing on the borders, but answering one form of violence with another assault on nature is completely unacceptable.
In the name of protecting man-made borders, we cannot allow ourselves to tamper with the natural course of rivers and mountains,” he said.
The Save Lahaul-Spiti Society described the proposed diversion of the Chandra River as an “inhumane and immature model of indiscriminate development” and urged the government to immediately reconsider the project in the larger interest of the Himalayan ecology and local communities.
Rana cautioned that if the concerns of residents are ignored, people of the region would be forced to launch a large-scale agitation against the project.
The proposed project has already triggered debate among environmentalists, local residents and social organisations, many of whom fear that excessive tunnelling and hydropower expansion in the higher Himalayas could further destabilise the already fragile mountain ecosystem.
