Hydropower currently accounts for about 13 percent, or 47 gigawatts, of the country’s total power generation capacity. Uttarakhand, which is prone to flash floods and landslides, has more than 10 operational hydropower projects, with another 75 being built — among them NTPC’s Tapovan Vishnugad Hydropower Plant — officials at the state’s renewable energy department said. Photo: AFP“Ninety percent of this problem is because of hydropower projects. “India needs to do a rethink and hydropower projects in the Himalayan region should be stopped,” said Prakash, who is also an author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports in 2019 and last year. Experts have warned for years that large-scale construction work, including hydropower projects, in and around Joshimath could lead to land subsidence — the sinking or settling of the ground surface.
