Disaster mgmt plans of hydro projects in limbo

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 24

Despite being located in high-risk mountainous zones, many hydropower plants are ignoring disaster management plans (DMP) or violating guidelines issued by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and the Central Water Commission (CWC). The DMPs were not reviewed annually, as required under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

Audit revealed that out of 11 power stations that prepared DMPs, eight did not review these annually. Of the remaining three power stations, only one reviewed its DMP, while it was not due for review and updation in case of the other two.

The Comptroller and Auditor General observed that out of eight selected power stations, dam-break analysis was conducted only at three projects. Further, a number guidelines issued by the Central Government were not implemented at several project sites.

The assessment of hospitals (situated on the power station complex) to deal with emergency situations was also not done. The DMPs of power stations did not prescribe standard operating procedures to deal with such situations.

Hydropower stations located in HP, Uttarakhand, J&K and Sikkim fall in the high-risk seismic zone. These stations are located in the Himalayan region which is prone to heavy rainfall, especially during the monsoon, and the occurrence of flood and landslides at different locations is common.

Since there is no other means of transport except roads in areas where these power stations are located, poor infrastructure increases the vulnerability of these stations during disasters.