The Sawalkote Hydroelectric Power Project on Chenab river in Indus basin, which has been stalled for several years, received a push following the recommendation for approval of environmental clearance by the union Environment Ministry’s sectoral expert panel on hydel projects, according to the minutes of the panel’s meeting.The Centre had expedited the project, first initiated in 1984, after putting the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance following the Pahalgam terror attack in April this year.The Ministry’s expert appraisal committee (EAC) on hydroelectric and river valley had taken up the project for appraisal in its September 26 meeting.The project had already received the panel’s nod for environmental clearance in January 2017. However, the final clearance order was not issued since the forest clearance for diversion of 846 hectares had not been granted. This included cutting of 2,22,081 trees, with the maximum – 1,26,462 – trees to be felled in the Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir.The 1,865-MW Sawalkote project, to be built in Ramban, will be one of the largest projects on the west-flowing Chenab; the project will be implemented by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Ltd. It will entail construction of a 192.5-m-high concrete gravity dam with a reservoir capacity of 530 million cubic metres spread over 1,159 hectares.The project’s installed capacity will be 1,406 MW in stage-I and 450 MW in stage-II. Under the IWT, the Chenab, Indus and Jhelum rivers are under the control of Pakistan. The Chenab river basin already has three projects in operation on it — the 390-MW Dulhast project at Kishtwar, the 890-MW Baglihar at Ramban and the 690-MW Salal project at Reasi.During the appraisal, the EAC noted that the project was recommended for clearance in 2017. However, it could not be taken up due to various reasons and a fresh proposal was submitted. It further noted that primary data for baseline studies was first collected in 2012 and since several had passed, the project proponent collected fresh baseline data for three seasons between July 2022 and May 2023, for monsoon, winter and pre-monsoon season.Story continues below this adAccording to Environment Ministry’s norms, if a project has failed to secure in-principle forest clearance within 18 months of a recommendation for clearance, baseline studies have to be updated. It was noted that there were no significant changes in the environmental baseline data from 2012 to 2023. “However, a comparison with the 2012 data indicates an increasing influence of anthropogenic activities such as domestic wastewater discharge, road construction, and runoff from settlements and agricultural areas on the waterbodies,” the EAC stated in its minutes.On public hearing, the expert panel said that since all the key features of the project such as its location, technical parameters, land requirement, project affected villages and families remain unchanged, it is of the view that there is no requirement of a fresh public hearing. A public hearing for the project was held in January 2016 in Udhampur and Ramban.An important aspect of project assessment that did not find any mention in the minutes was whether cumulative impact assessment and carrying capacity studies (CIA and CCS) for Chenab river basin were needed before giving a nod for the project. CIA and CCS studies are usually mandated as per ministry norms to ascertain long-term ecological and social impacts of large hydel projects.The cumulative studies, however, were discussed when the project was granted in-principle forest clearance. The Environment Ministry’s forest advisory committee (FAC) had noted that since the project was initiated in 1984, the guidelines will not apply retrospectively. The FAC had also taken cognizance of letters written by the Ministries of Power and Home Affairs to grant exemption from these studies during scrutiny.Story continues below this adThe secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, had said in his letter that the project was of strategic importance and that swift dam construction was essential for leveraging Chenab’s potential. The secretary, Ministry of Power, had also submitted that in the current geopolitical scenario, conducting CIA and CCS may have implications on the already initiated clearances and approval processes and subsequent implementation/execution of important upcoming hydel projects in Jammu & Kashmir.