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dam-l LS: Tehri Quake Experts Rap Govt
SPURNED QUAKE EXPERTS RAP GOVT
FOR DAM INACTION
Telegraph 28.04.99
FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Lucknow, April 27
Eminent scientists and seismologists have taken on
the Uttar
Pradesh government for rejecting their report —
which the
government had solicited in the first place — on the
safety
aspects of the Tehri dam.
The experts were chosen by the ministry of power to
study
the safety of the dam located on the Garhwal
mountains. But
when the report was submitted, the ministry rejected
two
crucial recommendations. One of them was a
suggestion to
test whether the controversial dam could withstand
an
earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale.
A plea to review the whole Tehri dam project was
made in a
public interest litigation filed in the Supreme
Court in 1994 by
noted environment activist N.D. Jayal.
After the Chamoli earthquake late last month, fresh
affidavits
have been submitted by the petitioner, stating that
the quake
proved the “complete energy” caused by the seismic
gap in
the folds of the Himalayan mountains had still not
been
released.
“The Uttarkashi and Chamoli earthquakes are the
shape of
things to come. The entire seismic energy in this
region has still
not been released. The Himalayan plate is moving
north at the
rate of five centimetres a year. At this rate, a
mammoth
earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale —
called in
seismic parlance the maximum credible earthquake —
is likely
in the next 10 to 15 years,” said Jayal, who now
finds support
from the expert panel.
The petitioner has called for an immediate stop to
the
construction until two major tests recommended by
the safety
committee is carried out. But the power ministry has
dismissed
this demand, saying that the dam was “safe” and the
test were
not necessary.
The safety committee was set up in 1997 along with a
committee on rehabilitation and environment aspects
of the
dam. The panel consisted of Vinod Gaur, former
secretary,
ocean development, and noted geophysicist; Professor
Iyengar of the Central Building Research Institute;
Professor
K.N. Khatri of the Wadia Institute of Dehradun; and
Professors Ramesh Chandra and Nigam of the
earthquake
engineering department, Roorkee University.
Two important recommendation made by the panel were:
A three-dimensional non-linear analysis of the dam
to test to it
again a maximum credible earthquake be done.
An advanced assimilated exercise according to
techniques
perfected abroad should be carried out to test the
actual
impact if the Tehri dam breaks under the force of an
earthquake.
Instead of acting on this advice, the power ministry
formed
another panel of experts from the Roorkee
University,
directorate of seismology, Geographical Survey of
India and
the National Geophysics Research Institute. The
second panel
backed the views of the first, the only dissenting
opinion being
that of Roorkee University.
But the government decided to rely only on the
Roorkee
University conclusion and dismissed the suggestion
of tests.
Jayal said: “I openly allege that the Roorkee
University has
been partisan to the interests of the THDC, because
it is
handling major consultancy projects of the Tehri
dam.”
“The main points mentioned in our recent affidavits
is that
studies carried out on the dam have not been
consistent.
Rehabilitation has not been properly done. The
safety question
has not been addressed. The permanent risk to
millions of
people living downstream of Tehri (from Hardwar and
Rishikesh to towns in western Uttar Pradesh) has not
been
considered seriously.”