After the Uttarakhand disaster, every NGO activist worth his or her jhola has got 10 minutes of fame on TV channels. And they seem happy blaming local people and development work including hydel power projects for the catastrophic floods.
The truth is that there is a cost to be paid for building hydro power projects, and there is cost to be paid for not having them. It was only due to the Tehri dam that the recent Kumbh in Allahabad was made possible. It is clear now that the Tehri dam, by holding excess flow last week, actually saved Rishikesh and Haridwar. Then there is the larger question of livelihoods.
Full report here Economic Times
