Not in favour of permitting new hydroelectric projects in upper Ganga, Centre tells Supreme Court

The Union government filed a counter-affidavit in the Supreme Court on May 19, 2026, stating it is not in favour of permitting any new hydroelectric projects...

What Happened

The Union government filed a counter-affidavit in the Supreme Court on May 19, 2026, stating it is not in favour of permitting any new hydroelectric projects in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi river basins in Uttarakhand.
The affidavit, filed jointly by the Ministries of Jal Shakti and Environment, Forest and Climate Change, undertook that no fresh hydro-electric projects will be sanctioned in the upper reaches of the Ganga basin.
The Centre urged the court to allow seven already-commissioned or substantially-progressed projects to proceed under strict environmental safeguards — four already commissioned and three in advanced stages of construction.
An expert body earlier appointed on Supreme Court directions had recommended against 23 of 24 hydropower projects it examined, citing irreversible damage to biodiversity in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi basins.
The Supreme Court had in 2024 directed a high-level committee to reconsider earlier expert body recommendations; the Centre's May 2026 affidavit represents its formal response to that direction.

Static Topic Bridges

Environmental Flows (E-Flows) and Aviral Dhara

Environmental flow (e-flow) refers to the quantity, timing, and quality of water flow required to sustain freshwater ecosystems and human livelihoods dependent on these ecosystems. In the Ganga context, "Aviral Dhara" (uninterrupted flow) has been a central conservation objective. The Central Government has notified minimum e-flow requirements for the River Ganga under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (Section 3), to ensure adequate flow even after diversions for hydropower and irrigation.

Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 — Section 3 empowers the Central Government to take measures for protecting and improving environmental quality; the NMCG and NGRBA operate under this authority.
National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) was constituted via gazette notification dated February 20, 2009, under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016 was issued under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, empowering the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).
A NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute) report flagged that large dams were proposed on major rivers every 20–25 km stretch, leaving minimal ecological flow in the rivers.

Connection to this news: The Centre's decision to halt new hydropower projects is directly linked to the inability to maintain adequate e-flows when rivers are fragmented by successive dams — a concern documented by both NEERI and the Supreme Court-appointed expert body.

Supreme Court's Oversight of Environmental Clearances

The Supreme Court of India has exercised broad supervisory jurisdiction over environmental clearances under Article 32 (Right to Constitutional Remedies) through public interest litigation. Following the Kedarnath disaster of June 2013, which caused over 5,000 deaths and was partly attributed to construction activity and dam-induced fragility in fragile Himalayan terrain, the Court imposed a moratorium on new hydropower clearances in the upper Ganga basin and appointed an expert body to study ecological impacts.

The Supreme Court case traces to Alaknanda Hydropower Co. Ltd. v. Anuj Joshi, which was sub-judice before the Kedarnath floods struck; the court subsequently expanded its scope to examine all hydro projects in the basin.
The expert body appointed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on court directions found that 23 of 24 examined projects would have irreversible impacts on biodiversity and recommended against their construction.
The court directed a Cabinet Secretary-level committee to reconsider the Expert Body II (EB-II) recommendations in 2024, requiring the Centre to give clear reasons if it departed from those recommendations.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT), established under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, has concurrent jurisdiction over environmental disputes, though the Supreme Court retained direct oversight in this matter.

Connection to this news: The Centre's affidavit is a direct response to Supreme Court directions and effectively endorses the expert body's core findings by committing to no new hydropower sanctions in the upper Ganga basin.

Hydropower and the Western Himalayan Ecology

The Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers are the two principal headstreams of the Ganga, originating from Satopanth Glacier and Gangotri Glacier respectively, both in Uttarakhand. The upper reaches constitute part of the Western Himalayas, classified as a global biodiversity hotspot. Run-of-the-river hydropower projects in this zone divert river water through tunnels, leaving long stretches of riverbed dry — a phenomenon documented as "dry river syndrome" in the NEERI report cited by the expert body.

Alaknanda and Bhagirathi merge at Devprayag (Uttarakhand) to form the Ganga.
Uttarakhand hosts India's highest concentration of hydropower projects given the steep gradient of rivers descending from the Greater Himalayas.
Existing commissioned projects referenced in the affidavit include Tehri Stage I and Koteshwar on the Bhagirathi basin, and the Srinagar dam on the Alaknanda.
The Himalayan region is one of the world's 36 recognized biodiversity hotspots; its rivers support cold-water fisheries including the Golden Mahseer (Tor putitora), a species of conservation concern.
EIA Notification, 2006 classifies large river valley projects (above 50 MW) as Category A, requiring clearance from the Expert Appraisal Committee at the central level.

Connection to this news: The Centre's no-new-projects position acknowledges that run-of-the-river projects in the upper Ganga basin have cumulatively degraded the river ecosystem beyond what individual EIA assessments — conducted project-by-project — can capture.

Key Facts & Data

Date of counter-affidavit: May 19, 2026
River basins covered: Alaknanda and Bhagirathi (principal headstreams of the Ganga, Uttarakhand)
Number of projects the expert body examined: 24; recommended against: 23
Projects the Centre seeks to allow: 7 (4 commissioned + 3 in advanced construction)
Kedarnath disaster year: June 2013 (over 5,000 deaths)
Legal authority for e-flow notification: Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, Section 3
NGRBA constituted: February 20, 2009
NMCG authority notification: 2016, under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
EIA Notification year: 2006 (large hydro projects: Category A, central EAC clearance required)