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The recent glacier-lake outburst led to the death of at least 100 people in Sikkim and the neighbouring Bengal. The outflow also destroyed the Chungthang dam in Sikkim, a critical part of the Teesta-III hydropower project on River Teesta. This strengthened the call of environmentalists and local people to relook major developmental projects in the fragile Himalayas. At the same time, the destruction has resurfaced alarms in neighbouring Bhutan over the status of India-assisted mega hydropower projects in the country.
Central Electricity Authority (CEA) note raised concerns
As per a report by The Hindu, doubts pertaining to the projects were first raised when the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) uploaded a note on the projects in February earlier this year. The note was updated in August without any major changes. The note took into delays in commissioning- that is, the completion and handover of the projects for operation.
The CEA note said that for Punatsangchhu Stage-I (Puna-I):
“Project commissioning is being delayed due to movement/subsidence of right bank hill mass in the dam area. Treatment/stabilisation of the right bank and completion of dam work under progress. The option of providing a barrage in the upstream and abandoning of the dam is being studied.”
On the other hand, remedial measures are in progress for Punatsangchhu Stage-II (Puna-II) as:
"Poor geological strata and shear zone being encountered at left bank and foundation of dam and HRT .”
An Assam-based hydrologist, under the condition of anonymity, told The Hindu that the rethinking of the two Puna projects is likely to entail “an expensive design change”.
“Punatsangchhu has been a story of disaster. The Puna-I project is more or less a washout and hence they are considering the alternative of a barrage there. But that also does not seem to have been finalised. It is an admission of a major failure by these agencies,”
Environmental activist and water and dam safety expert Himanshu Thakkar told The Hindu.
About the projects under scanner after the Sikkim floods
The said projects - the 1,200 MW Punatsangchhu Stage-I (Puna-I) and the 1,020 MW Punatsangchhu Stage-II (Puna-II) are being built at an estimated cost ₹21,637.28 crore. The projects are expected to benefit States in northern and eastern India. Both projects are located in the Sankosh River basin, one of the major tributaries of the Brahmaputra. The projects are being funded by India through a 40% grant and 60% loan setting. The Puna-I project was started in 2008 and is expected to be commissioned in 2024-25. On the other hand, the Puna-II is targeted for commissioning in 2023-24.
India-Bhutan Cooperation in Hydropower Development
India has been a persistent partner in the development of the field of hydroelectric power generation in Bhutan. This is a key component in the special bilateral relationship between the two countries.
An agreement concerning cooperation in the field of hydroelectric power was signed between the Government of India (GoI) and the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) in 2006. In this agreement, it was decided that the projects would be implemented jointly by the two governments. It was also decided that India would import a minimum of 5,000 MW of electricity from Bhutan by the year 2020. This was subsequently enhanced to 10,000 MW in the protocol signed in the year 2009 between the two governments.
As per a document by the CEA, Bhutan has a feasible hydro potential of 23,760 MW from 76 different hydro schemes. The present hydro installed capacity in Bhutan stands at about 2326 MW (9.78%) out of which 2136 MW has been developed with technical and financial assistance from India. Furthermore, 2820 MW (11.86%) is under construction and 7285 MW (30.66%) is under various stages of development with Indian technical and financial assistance.
Government response
As per The Hindu, the governments of the two countries have assigned an eight-member Technical Coordination Committee (TCC) to review and propose a path forward for the Puna-I dam. The report quotes Bhutan’s power officials as that a mutual decision was made to initiate geological investigation studies at the project site. The TCC would determine the extent of additional geotechnical investigations required at the dam site.
“We need to re-look at the geological survey of the (Puna-I) dam because many things have changed in 15 years. There have been many reasons for the delay, including technical issues and COVID. The (soil) stabilisation measures have not yielded the results they wanted. No expert will go on to do a project that is not technically, scientifically feasible,”
Bhutan’s Prime Minister, Lotay Tshering told The Hindu.
Reiterating that the problem is manageable, the PM said,
“There is no disagreement on the principles. Both the countries and the experts agree that the project must be completed, and they are sorting out the technical details that can potentially harm the dam’s future... Our technical experts have proposed that if the dam is not feasible, then probably a smaller dam or barrage is needed. The government of India experts have said the dam is feasible.”
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