Re-Linking Governance of Energy with Livelihoods and Irrigation in Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Abstract:Hydropower is often termed "green energy" and proffered as an alternative to polluting coal-generated electricity for burgeoning cities and energy-insecure rural areas. India is the third largest coal producer in the world; it is projected to be the largest coal consumer by 2050. In the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, India, over 450 hydroelectric power schemes are proposed or are under development. Hydropower projects ranging from micro hydro (run-of-the-river systems with generating capacity up to 100 kW) to large reservoirs (storage systems up to 2000 MW) such as the Tehri Dam are in various stages of planning, construction or implementation. Run-of-the-river hydropower projects are being developed in Uttarakhand in order to avoid some of the costs to local communities created by large dams. Stakeholders in this rapid hydropower expansion include multiple actors with often diverging sets of interests. The resulting governance challenges are centered on tradeoffs between local electricity and revenue from the sale of hydropower, on the one hand, and the impacts on small-scale irrigation systems, riparian-corridor ecosystem services, and other natural resource-based livelihoods, on the other. We focus on the Bhilangana river basin, where water dependent livelihoods differentiated by gender include farming, fishing, livestock rearing and fodder collection. We examine the contradictions inherent in hydropower governance based on the interests of local residents and other stakeholders including hydropower developers, urban and other regional electricity users, and state-level policymakers. We use a social justice approach applied to hydropower projects to examine some of the negative impacts, especially by location and gender, of these projects on local communities and then identify strategies that can safeguard or enhance livelihoods of women, youth, and men in areas with hydropower projects, while also maintaining critical ecosystem services. By assessing the Bhilangana basin case, we also offer hydropower-livelihoods-irrigation nexus lessons for headwater regions across the Himalayas and globally.

Upper river basin watersheds: sustainable, equitable and profitable interventions

“…However, a detailed study of the impacts of three run-of-the-river hydroelectric projects in the Indian state of Uttarkhand on the Bhilangana tributary to the Ganges River demonstrated that these schemes also have significant, even devastating, local social and environmental impacts. But the study also identified strategies to use hydropower projects to safeguard, and possibly enhance, the livelihoods of women, youth and men and maintain critical ecosystem services (Buechler et al 2016).…”

“…The study concludes by advocating participatory governance and establishing clear legally enforceable guidelines and mechanisms for benefit sharing, pointing to the example of Nepal, which does mandate sharing benefits with the local communities (Box 1; Buechler et al 2016;WLE 2017b).…”

Water Governance, Stakeholder Engagement, and Sustainable Water Resources Management

“…Sustainable water governance comprehends the justice of policies and actions and their impacts on all stakeholders [27]. In "Re-Linking Governance of Energy with Livelihoods and Irrigation in Uttarakhand, India", Buechler et al investigated the impacts of hydropower projects on rural communities in order to derive recommendations to improve the social justice of energy development governance [28]. They conclude that governance instruments can be employed to compensate rural losses and share the benefits of hydropower projects more equitably.…”

Re-conceptualizing dam design and management for enhanced water and food security

“…The notion of benefit sharing has evolved from that of compensation to a situation in which local people directly and substantially benefit from infrastructure projects. A benefits-sharing partnership enables the local population to have ownership over the project and to strive for more socially just project outcomes for villagers (Buechler et al 2016). Involving local communities in the decision making on, and development of, appropriate compensation packages can help ensure that the needs of smallholder farmers are taken into account.…”