Centre Tells Supreme Court No New Dams in Alaknanda-Bhagirathi River Basins

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change stated in a counter-affidavit filed on May 19, 2026 that no new hydropower dams will be built in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi river basins in Uttarakhand, reaffirming a moratorium that has been in place since the Supreme Court's landmark August 2013 direction following the Kedarnath tragedy. The government confirmed it had rejected large dam proposals including the Bowala Nandprayag and Devsari projects.

The Supreme Court's August 13, 2013 direction barring environmental and forest clearances for hydropower projects in Uttarakhand followed the devastating Kedarnath floods of June 2013, which killed thousands and raised fundamental questions about the ecological risk of intensive dam construction in the fragile Himalayan river systems of the Ganga's upper tributaries. The court directed the formation of an expert body to assess cumulative impacts, and Expert Body-I and Expert Body-II were constituted and produced reports that informed the moratorium.

Uttarakhand has historically been one of India's primary hydropower development zones, with numerous projects approved or constructed in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi sub-basins before the 2013 moratorium. The rejection of large projects including Bowala Nandprayag and Devsari dams represents a significant policy reversal, acknowledging that the cumulative hydrological and ecological impacts of dense dam construction in seismically active Himalayan terrain exceed acceptable risk thresholds, particularly in the context of intensifying extreme precipitation events linked to climate change.

The affidavit's position has implications for India's hydropower expansion plans under its 2030 renewable energy targets. While the Alaknanda-Bhagirathi moratorium is basin-specific, the legal and ecological principles underlying the court's approach may influence the scrutiny applied to hydropower proposals in other sensitive Himalayan river systems. River ecologists and the Ganga Rights movement have welcomed the government's position as consistent with the need to protect the ecological flows and cultural significance of the upper Ganga.

Key figure — Moratorium in place since August 13, 2013 Supreme Court direction