The proposed Rs  9,167-crore multipurpose hydropower dam on river Ujh in Jammu & Kashmir's Kathua region is inching towards reality. The two central green panels have given nod to the diversion of 4,350 hectares of land including about 680 hectares of forest land and felling of over two lakh trees for the project, which they said is of ‘national importance’.

The project, which envisages construction of a 116-metre dam, is part of India’s endeavour to step up use of the water available under the Indus Water Treaty and is proposed on rive Ujh, a tributary of River Ravi that flows into Pakistan--a part of the Indus river basin system.

It was considered for environment and forest clearance by the Union Environment Ministry’s expert appraisal committee (EAC) and forest advisory committee (FAC) respectively in December 2020. Both the expert panels have recommended clearance to the project.  Wildlife clearance was already granted to the project in August 2020.

The project comprises of a 116-metre high concrete face rockfill dam, a powerhouse of installed capacity 186 megawatts and a barrage 11.5 kilometre downstream of the dam, ensuring annual irrigation of about 31,380 hectares.

During its meeting on December 22, 2020, the FAC observed that this project is of “national importance which provides geopolitical strategic advantage in form of more effective use of water of Ujh River.”

“This project will ameliorate the agricultural and power sectors in the otherwise barren Kandi area. It will also be a boon in the dry Kandi belt which is reeling under the peril of impending water crisis during the dry season and also reduce the miseries of floods in the monsoons,” noted the minutes of the FAC’s meeting.

The minutes highlighted that that the panel accepted the “justification” given by the J&K authorities regarding “considering a patch of compensatory afforestation area that is of less than five hectares after detailed deliberation on the overall proposal.”

The FAC recommended the project after “thorough deliberation” and noted that a large number of trees are proposed to be cut due to the project. “Every effort shall be made to ensure that trees are felled only when felling is unavoidable and it shall be done in a phased manner. The administration shall therefore also ensure that compensatory afforestation is taken up in the first year of the construction of the project, and adequate post-planting measures are taken to ensure healthy growth of the regenerated forest,” as per the minutes.

The panel also asked the authorities to ensure that the resettlement and rehabilitation plan is not proposed over forest land.Following FAC  nod, the project was discussed by ministry’s EAC for river valley and hydroelectric project which noted that in all 52 villages with 3,700 families are likely to lose their homes in the land acquisition process for construction of the dam.

“The project will provide relief from the miseries of floods to the people living in the area. The project has the scope of indirect benefits such as pisciculture, tourism and other progressive development. Job opportunities will drastically improve in this area. At present most of the population sustains on agriculture and allied activities. There are no major industries or other avenues of occupation in the area,” the EAC’s minutes said.

It further said that the “terrestrial fauna in the Ujh multipurpose project” area includes mammals, birds, reptiles, butterflies and amphibians. Some of the birds found in the region include Black-winged Kite, Great-horned Owl, Black-faced Banting, Blue-throated barbet, Common Hawk Chuckoo, Common Indian Nightjar and Common myna … Some of them (mammals) found in the project vicinity are Asiatic Jackal, Barking deer, Common Grey Mongoose, Grey Musk Shrew, Himalayan Hoary bellied squirrel, Himalayan palm civet, Himalayan rat, House Rat, Indian Fox besides jungle cat and leopard, which have the highest protection under India’s wildlife laws.

The panel has also called for review of the project regarding its impact on environment  “after five years of its commissioning.”