Mountains of Concrete - International Rivers

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Dam Building in the HimalayasPotential and PlansIn the last few years, Pakistan, India, Bhutan and Nepal have prepared plans for massive dam building in theHimalayas. Several hundred dams are now proposed for the region, which could lead to capacity additions of over150,000 MW in the next 20 years.All these countries have built dams in the Himalayas inthe past to generate hydropower and to store water forirrigation and other needs. Among India’s earliest multipurposeprojects was the Bhakra Nangal Dam, a rim stationproject 8 on the Satluj, a tributary of the Indus, with aninstalled capacity of 1,200 MW, completed in 1962. Pakistanbuilt the 1,000 MW Mangla and the 3,478 MW Tarbeladams, completed in 1967 and 1977, respectively. 9 Bhutanundertook the construction of the 336 MW Chukhaproject (1986-88) with the Indian government’s help, whileNepal also built several small and medium projects in the1960s-70s. The construction of big dams has slowed due toa variety of reasons, including the tremendous oppositionthey faced from affected people and strong critiques oftheir development effectiveness. Today there is a renewedand aggressive push for these projects, several of which arealready under construction.Hydropower constitutes an important source of powerfor all four countries, but the significance differs. Table 1shows total installed capacities and the share of hydro for eachcountry. Note that for India and Pakistan the hydropowerstations include non-Himalayan hydro stations.Each of these countries has huge hydropower potential.Much of this potential lies in the Himalayan region. Table2 gives the estimated hydropower potential in each countryalong with the potential exploited so far. 11It should be pointed out that the basis for the estimationof “potential” and the assessment of “feasibility” are unclear.In particular, whether social, environmental and cultural costsare included in determining if the potential is economicallyfeasible is not clear. Given the established procedures of dambuilding and the gross neglect of these factors in the process,it is highly likely these factors have not been considered.Table 1: Total Installed Capacity and Share of Hydropower 10Total InstalledCapacity (MW)Capacity fromHydro (MW)Hydro Capacityas a % of TotalBhutan 1,505 1,488 98.9 %Nepal 615 561 91.2 %Pakistan 17,369 6,444 37.1 %India 143,311 35,909 25.1 %Construction of the 600 MW Loharinag-Pala Hydropower Projecton the Bhagirathi River in Uttarakhand, India, 2008. Photo: MatuPeople’s OrganizationThese countries are creating massive plans for additionalhydro capacity based on these assessments of potential.Bhutan is planning a capacity expansion of about 10,000MW in the next 10 years. Among the projects being plannedfor the near future are the 1,095 MW Puntansangchu-I andthe 600 MW Mangdechhu projects.Nepal is planning to install hydropower capacity of22,000 MW in the coming years. Interestingly, Nepal hasa dual capacity addition plan in place – one forcapacity addition for domestic needs and another,more massive one for electricity export to India. Forits own needs, Nepal plans to add 1,750 MW by theyear 2020-2021, mostly through small and mediumprojects. 13 Much of the rest, mainly from the biggerprojects, is planned for selling power to India. The 750MW West Seti project is set to begin constructioneven as the affected people are strongly opposing it.Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) have also6 | International Rivers
Sign of the planned Diamer-Bhasha Dam in Pakistan, 2007. Thegovernment is pushing for the immediate implementation of themassive 4,500 MW Diamer-Bhasha project in Pakistan. Credit:Naeem Iqbalbeen signed for the 300 MW Upper Karnali and 402 MWArun-III projects.Pakistan has plans to add 10,000 MW through fiveprojects by the year 2016. 14 Another 14 projects totallingabout 21,000 MW are under study for construction by2025. 15 The government is pushing for the immediateimplementation of the massive 4,500 MW Diamer-Bhashaproject.India declared its intentions with the launch of the“50,000 MW Initiative” by then Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee on May 24, 2003. This initiative fasttrackedhydropower development by taking up time-boundpreparation of the Preliminary Feasibility Reports (PFRs)of 162 new hydroelectric schemes totalling around 50,000MW. 16 India has plans to build this capacity by 2017 andthen, in the 10 years following, to add another 67,000MW of hydropower. 17 Construction is ongoing for manyof the projects including the 2,000 MW Lower Subansiriproject, the 400 MW Koteshwar project and the 1,000 MWKarcham Wangtoo, to name a few.Thus, the hydropower capacity addition planned injust the next 10 years in this region is close to 80,000MW. This can be compared to the planned additions inthe whole of Latin America (60-64,000 MW) or Africa(27-99,000 MW). 18Many of these projects are already under construction.Table 3 shows the number of existing, under construction andproposed hydropower projects in each of these countries. Notethat the proposed projects are not limited to those plannedfor the next 10 years. A full list of the names and capacitiesof all projects can be found on www.internationalrivers.org/himalyasreport/list.Table 2: Ultimate Hydropower Potential and Exploited Potential 12Total ClaimedPotential (MW)Capacity AlreadyDeveloped (MW)% CapacityRemaining tobe DevelopedBhutan 23,760 1,488 93.74Nepal 44,000 561 98.73Pakistan 41,722 6,444 84.55India (Himalayan) 118,210 26,376 77.69India (Rest) 30,491 19,641 35.58Table 3: Existing, Under Construction, and Planned Hydropower ProjectsNepal Pakistan BhutanIndia(Himalayan Region)No. ofProjectsCapacity(MW)No. ofProjectsCapacity(MW)No. ofProjectsCapacity(MW)No. ofProjectsCapacity(MW)Existing 15 545 6 6,385 5 1,480 74 15,208UnderConstruction2 84 7 1,405 37 17,765Planned 37 26,324 35 33,769 16 15,693 318 93,615Total 54 26,953 48 41,559 21 17,173 429 126,588Mountains of Concrete: Dam Building in the Himalayas | 7
Page 3 and 4: ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . .
Page 5 and 6: IntroductionThe Himalayas are the h
Page 7: The Regional ParadoxThe Himalayan m
Page 11 and 12: Former President Musharrafin his ad
Page 13 and 14: Funding RequirementsThe funds requi
Page 15 and 16: (PPPs), or through privatization wh
Page 17 and 18: some bilateral institutions are exp
Page 19 and 20: Key PlayersKey players in the massi
Page 21 and 22: Box 3: Merchant Sale of Power and W
Page 23 and 24: Social and EnvironmentalImpactsThe
Page 25 and 26: No. Project Country Capacity Status
Page 27 and 28: Box 5: Diamer-Bhasha Project, Pakis
Page 29 and 30: our souls through this river…The
Page 31 and 32: The impact on this ecologically sen
Page 33 and 34: the companies who build theprojects
Page 35 and 36: A very robust finding of hydrologic
Page 37 and 38: Box 8: Some Likely Impacts of Clima
Page 39 and 40: Responses of Civil Society andAffec
Page 41 and 42: Alternative ApproachesOne of the mo
Page 43 and 44: References1 The term “greater Him
Page 45 and 46: 85 Ibid.86 Various news reports.87
Page 48: Mountains of Concrete:Dam Building

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