Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat pitches for rules uniformity on hydel projects in country

DEHRADUN: Pitching for uniformity of rules on hydel projects throughout the country, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today said the state government has strongly presented its view on the issue before the Supreme Court.
"Something like a myth has been spread about hydel projects in Uttarakhand. How is it possible that there is one set of rules regarding hydel projects in Uttarakhand and a separate set of norms for states like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the country.

"Whatever norms are laid down for Uttarakhand in this regard have to be applicable to the whole of India," he told reporters here.

Making an indirect reference to people who want to turn Uttarakhand into a "laboratory of environmental experiments", Rawat said he would like to politely tell such people that the state's significant contribution to the country's environment conservation efforts is not made by those who reside in big cities but by those who live in its villages.

When asked about preparations for chardham yatra scheduled to begin on April 21, Rawat said reconstruction and repair work on the route are being carried out on a war footing and personnel engaged in the operations amid 7-8 feet of snow should be encouraged for what they are doing.

"Mere fault-finding is not going to help things. It may demoralise the workforce engaged in reconstruction efforts in difficult hilly terrain despite vagaries of the weather," he said adding that everything will be perfectly in place before the start of the yatra on April 21.

Alternative plans to conduct the yatra without any hitches have also been kept ready, he said.

Asked about alleged curtailment of funds to Uttarakhand by the Centre, Rawat evaded a direct reply saying that the state is struggling hard to overcome the damage done to crops by unseasonal rains and doing everything it can to help farmers out of its own resources.

The Centre has also been requested to help farmers of the state by taking similar measures, he said.

On a hike of about seven per cent in power tariff in the state, Rawat said power tariff is determined by the Electricity Regulatory Authority and not by the state government.

However, power tariff in Uttarakhand is much lower than many states including Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana.