Abstract
The hilly and mountainous regions of the Indian Himalaya offer vast potential for hydro development because of the number of fast-flowing rivers and streams. Several state governments, along with the central government, continue to promote the harnessing of this power potential to correct energy deficits, encourage industrial development, and improve social well-being. For their part, the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have encouraged developers to take advantage of various incentives to exploit their hydro potential. Our research focuses on one aspect of these initiatives in these two states, the burgeoning small hydro industry. Small hydro development has become very popular in these and other regions in India because of its potential to provide local benefits, such as electrification, reduction in fossil fuel use, and enhanced local economic development opportunities, especially in rural and remote areas. Using a qualitative approach involving a review of documents, field observations, and interviews with government representatives, industry officials, and community members, the research investigated the development activities for two small hydro projects. Our findings show that the most successful project was the one where the local community was fully engaged in planning, construction and operation. They also reveal the need for significant policy change in relation to the approval of hydro developments that are not community based. Additionally, the work revealed that community members were concerned about the vast extent of micro-hydro development in their regions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Agrawal DK, Lodhi MS, Panwar S (2010) Are EIA studies sufficient for projected hydropower development in the Indian Himalayan region? Curr Sci 98(2):154–161
Alternate Hydro Energy Centre (AHEC) (2003) Small hydro power: initiatives and private sector participation, 3rd edn. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee
Asian Development Bank (2005) Uttaranchal power sector project in India, summary environmental impact assessment. Asian Development Bank, Manila
Badarinath HS (1996) Design of small hydropower projects: hydraulic structures and water conductor system. In: Varma CVJ, Rao ARG (eds) International course on small hydro power. International Association for Small Hydro, New Delhi, pp 109–145
Bastakoti BP (2006) The electricity–livelihood nexus: some highlights from the Andhikhola Hydroelectric and Rural Electrification Centre (AHREC). Energy Sustain Dev 10(3):26–35
Bhattacharya SC, Jana C (2009) Renewable energy in India: historical developments and prospects. Energy 34(8):981–991
Central Electricity Authority (2004) Hydro power development: executive summary of preliminary feasibility reports of hydroelectric schemes. Ministry of Power, Government of India, New Delhi
Central Electricity Authority (2010) Status of 50,000 MW hydro electric initiative 2010 [cited March 13 2010]. Available from http://www.cea.nic.in/hydro/Status%20of%2050,000%20MW%20Hydro%20Electric%20Initiative/Status%20of%2050000 %20 MW%20HydroElectric%20Initiative.pdf
Composite Engineers (2001) Detailed project report of Malari Micro Hydel Project, capacity 50 kW. Composite Engineers, Dehra Dun
Diduck AP, Sinclair AJ, Pratap D, Hostetler G (2007) Achieving meaningful public participation in the environmental assessment of hydro development: case studies from Chamoli District, Uttarakhand, India. Impact Assess Proj Apprais 25(3):219–231
Dutta R (2009) Environmental democracy in the Himalayas: an assessment of access to justice, public participation and access to information in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Access Initiative Himalayan Coalition, New Delhi
Handa OC (2002) History of Uttaranchal. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi
Himachal Pradesh Energy Development Agency (HIMURJA) (2000) Status note on small hydro power development programme up to 3 MW capacity in Himachal Pradesh. H.P. Energy Development Agency, Shimla
Himachal Pradesh Energy Development Agency (2010) Small hydro development programme in Himachal Pradesh. Government of Himachal Pradesh Energy Development Agency, undated [cited March 15 2010]. Available from http://himurja.nic.in/smallhydro.html
Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (2010) Highlights of investor friendly new hydro policy on privatization. Government of Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board undated [cited March 15 2010]. Available from http://www.hpseb.com/hydro_policy.htm
Joshi MC (2007) Hydro power potential in Uttarakhand. In: International conference on small hydropower. International Centre for Hydropower, Norway, Kandy, Sri Lanka
Kumar A (1996) Small hydro power–civil works. International course on small hydro development. In: Varma CVJ, Rao ARG (eds) International association for small hydro. International Association for Small Hydro, New Delhi, pp 158–175
McCandless M (2007) Community involvement in the development of small hydro in Uttaranchal, India. Unpublished masters thesis. Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Canada
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (2010) Small hydro power programme. Government of India Ministry of New and Renewable Energy undated [cited March 15 2010]. Available from http://mnes.nic.in/prog-smallhydro.htm
Paliwal R (2006) EIA practice in India and its evaluation using SWOT analysis. Environ Impact Assess Rev 26(5):492–510
Prasad J, Prasad Shiva HJ (2007) Performance evaluation of existing mini hydro power projects of Uttarakand: a case study. In: International conference on small hydropower – Hydro Sri Lanka, 22–24 October 2007. Available: http://ahec.org.in/links/International%20conference%20on%20SHP%20Kandy%20Srilanka%20All%20Details%5CPapers%5CTechnical%20Aspects-A%5CA31.pdf
Reddy VR, Uitto JI, Frans DR, Matin N (2006) Achieving global environmental benefits through local development of clean energy? The case of small hilly hydel in India. Energy Policy 34(18):4069–4080
Saxeena P (2007) Small hydro development in India. In: International conference on small hydropower. International Centre for Hydropower, Norway, Kandy
Sinclair AJ (2003) Assessing the impacts of micro-hydro development in the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, India. Mt Res Dev 23(1):11–13
Sinclair AJ, Diduck AP (2000) Public involvement in environmental impact assessment: a case study of hydro development in Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, India. Impact Assess Proj Apprais 18(1):63–75
Tanwar N (2008) Clean development mechanism and off-grid small-scale hydropower projects: evaluation of additionality. Energy Policy 36(1):2000–2015
Tuffer B, Markard J, Bratrich C, Wehrli B (2001) Green electricity for alpine hydropower plants. Mt Res Dev 21(2):19–24
Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (2010) Policy on private sector investment in hydropower project above 100 MW capacity. Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited undated [cited March 15 2010]. Available from http://www.uttarakhandjalvidyut.com/sitemap.htm
Water for Welfare Secretariat (2008a) Government of India policy on hydro power development. In: Water for Welfare Secretariat (ed) Hydro power policies and guidelines. Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Roorkee
Water for Welfare Secretariat (2008b) Government of Uttarakhand policy for harnessing renewable energy sources in Uttarakhand with private sector/community participation. In: Water for Welfare Secretariat (ed) Hydro power policies and guidelines. Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Roorkee
Acknowledgments
We want to gratefully acknowledge the research participants for making the time to meet with us, the Shastri-Indo Canadian Institute and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for their financial support, and Weldon Hiebert, Cartographer in the of the University of Winnipeg Department of Geography, for preparing Fig. 19.1.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sinclair, A.J., Diduck, A.P., McCandless, M. (2015). A Comparative Case Study of Small Hydro Development in the Indian Himalaya. In: Dutt, A., Noble, A., Costa, F., Thakur, S., Thakur, R., Sharma, H. (eds) Spatial Diversity and Dynamics in Resources and Urban Development. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9771-9_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9771-9_19
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9770-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9771-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)