We all know that in order to gain something, one has to lose something. Even happiness is built on someone else’s misfortune and for every loss there is a hidden gain. For hidden gain there is a loss as well. In this world, there are some occasions and times when people lose everything and get nothing in return except disasters and stress. A famous Urdu couplet explains this aptly:
“Na khuda hi mila, na visaal-e-sanam/
Na idhar ke rahe, na udhar ke rahe.” or
“I neither found faith nor did I get the union with my beloved/
and now I belong neither here nor there.”
This couplet describes the fate of many communities and people living in remote areas of Jammu & Kashmir especially the forest dwellers whose resources (land , forest , water) were acquired for so-called developmental projects. These projects, especially hydropower generation ones, left communities with economic losses and ecological damage. Even small hydropower projects, otherwise minimal in their impact on the environment, have been harming the biodiversity, ecology and economic conditions of people.
When the 7.5 MW Branwar Hydropower project was being constructed around 15 years back in a forest village called Branwar in District Budgam, a lot of false promises were made to villagers by the local politicians in power. Many villagers whom I met in the recent past told me that the former Finance Minister of J&K Mr A R Rather who was also the five-times legislator from Charar-e-Sharief had assured residents of Branwar that they would get free electricity from the hydropower project.
“We were told by Mr A R Rather, our former MLA and Finance Minister of J&K, that within a 5 kms radius people would get free electricity, especially the residents of Branwar Neegu and Jabbad villages. That remained only a promise and the successive PDP-BJP Govt also could not make sure we get free or at least subsidized electricity from the power project”, said Ghulam Qadir Ganai a local resident of Branwar
After more than a decade, the electricity crisis is still bad in Branwar. Infact, it is just as bad in but also in adjoining areas and villages like Neegu, Jabbad, Surasyar, Bonen, Batwodder and Kutbal as well. During winters people get mere 4 to 5 hours of power supply and when it snows, power supply is interrupted for weeks. No new electric cables, transformers or iron pylons have been erected. Lot of electricity transmission loss is taking place and locals have to pay for these losses as well.
Even after a drizzle, power supply is cut in most of the villages in this remote area of Budgam which comes under the Surasyar block. Recently, when I visited Mechi Khanain meadow, trekking 12 kms up Branwar, I found the old course of Doodh Ganga dry. This was the area I along with my friends would catch fresh trout but that is now a history.
From Meche Khanain downstream to Branwar, the Doodh Ganga is almost dry. A little water joins it around Yusmarg from the Kalnag stream but that is very little. From Meche Khanain to Frasnag and downstream 2 kms this waterbody is completely dry now and everything in this stream has perished.
Hundreds of Trees axed in Branwar forest
The private company which got the project on a 40-year lease only destroyed the local forest landscape and biodiversity with the support of the then Government especially the Forest department. After 15 years, locals of Branwar and adjoining villages say that it seems that hundreds and thousands of forest trees (Kail, Fir, Deodar) were axed to help this company. On the other hand, the local people who actually own these forests under the Forest Rights Act 2006 got nothing in return.
Not only were the trees in Branwar forest uprooted and axed but even the course of Doodh Ganga was changed which not only impacted the aquatic life but also continues to impact the forest cover even after 15 years.
Green Meadow dredged
The pristine and green meadow around Metch Khanain 12 kms up Branwar was dug with huge JCBs to create an artificial canal for diverting Doodh Ganga waters. A small water reservoir was created and a huge pipeline was laid through another green meadow called Haijan. JCB cranes,trucks and lorries went into deep jungle which was virgin until 2008-2009. The massive pipeline was laid over the green meadow of Haijan which is like a massive scar on its landscape and beauty. Trees were axed to make the canal in deep forest and trees which are there on the embankments of this artificial canal continue to get impacted with water. No concrete embankments or stone pitching was done to prevent oozing of water from the canal towards surrounding forest and trees.
Misleading information on UNFCCC
There is hardly any detailed information available on Govt websites in J&K about the Branawar 7.5 MW small hydropower project. After surfing the internet, I found a document related to this project called Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) on the website of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The UNFCCC is the UN process for negotiating an agreement to limit dangerous climate change. It is an international treaty among countries to combat “dangerous human interference with the climate system. The CDM allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2. These CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialized countries to meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. Under the Kyoto Protocol it is required that countries limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by setting such targets. It also helps countries meet their emission targets, and to encourage the private sector and developing countries to contribute to emission reduction efforts, negotiators of the Protocol included three market-based mechanisms – emissions trading, the clean development mechanism (CDM) and joint implementation.
As per the details available about Branwar hydropower project on UNFCCC website , local communities had been taken on board and the consent of local Gram Panchayat was sought in a stakeholders’ meeting held on June 15th 2008. It is important to note that in 2008 there were no Gram Panchayats in Kashmir and elections for the Panchayats were held in May 2011. The document says that stakeholders were invited by giving advertisements in two local newspapers mentioning the date, time and venue of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) stakeholders meeting.
“Also, the Gram Panchayat was given an invitation letter for the same. Around 30 numbers of Local Stakeholders were present during the meeting”, the document reads.
How can 30 people of the three villages of Branwar, Jabbad and Neegu decide their fate? As per law, a Gram Sabha/Deh Majli has to be convened which includes the adult population of the village. When the Panchayat elections were held in 2011, the then Govt could have convened a Maha Gram sabha in the village to address the concerns of the local vis a vis ecology, environment and biodiversity. The issue related to supply of free electricity could also have been addressed.
The situation in Branwar and the adjoining hamlets, Jabbad and Neegu, is such that even the families living under Below Poverty Line (BPL), who have mere one or two rooms are made to pay Rs 1300 to 1800 per month as electricity fees which was mere Rs 108 only five years back. When people say that they were assured free electricity, the officers of the power department tell them they were mere political slogans and nothing was on paper.
Conclusion
This author has seen Branwar without a hydro-power project and I am witnessing the situation now as well. I am of the belief that even small hydropower projects cause environmental destruction and they severely impact biodiversity. The environmental impact is immense and it is a lesson for those people who say there is a lot of potential for creating new hydropower projects in J&K.
Not only mega dams but run of river hydro-power projects also destroy the forest landscape and river biodiversity as has been witnessed in Branwar. The local population is further pushed to the wall as they are charged exorbitant electricity fees by the Government and the natural resources like forest , land and water which were owned by these people have no value at all. It is a clear violation of Forest Rights Act 2006 as well.
This is not the case with Branwar only. We have many such Hydropower projects wherein the government and political leaders made several promises with locals but they remained unfulfilled. People in Doda, Kishtwar, Reasi, Ramban where we have mega hydropower projects in operation also suffer from the same issues. People of Gurez valley in Bandipora district were also given lots of assurances around 2013-2014 when the work on the dam was taken up there. When I assess the situation after 10 years I believe that people of Gurez valley lost everything and they are still dependent on diesel gensets there. Like Branwar, people of Gurez also sail in the same boat. This reminds me of the famous quote by Richard Pual Evans who in his book Promise Me writes,
“Broken vows are like broken mirrors. They leave those who held to them bleeding and staring at fractured images of themselves.”
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