Overview
- The Union government told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it will not permit any new hydroelectric projects in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi headstream basins while asking that seven already commissioned or substantially advanced projects be allowed to continue under strict safeguards.
- The seven projects named by the Centre are Tehri Stage‑II, Tapovan Vishnugad, Vishnugad Pipalkoti, Singoli Bhatwari, Phata Byung, Madhmaheshwar and Kaliganga‑II, with officials saying four are commissioned and three show substantial physical and financial progress.
- The affidavit, filed jointly by the ministries of Environment, Jal Shakti and Power, framed the decision around the basin's placement in seismic Zones IV–V, frequent landslides, glacial‑lake outburst floods and the need to protect minimum river flows for ecology and pilgrimage routes.
- Environmental experts and activists welcomed the ban on new projects but demanded immediate, independent reviews of the seven ongoing sites and contested government claims about the status of some works, notably saying Phata Byung had been destroyed by past floods and was not truly under advanced construction.
- The matter remains before the Supreme Court with further hearings scheduled, and the decision could reshape India's Himalayan hydropower policy by prioritizing cumulative‑impact and geological risk assessments over earlier technical bodies' broader approvals.