Video reportage: Mucking up Mountain Lives - ecological fallouts from Hydro projects in Himachal [in Hindi Language]

Yet another hydropower project has devastated property, lands and livelihoods in Himachal Pradesh. This time in a 25 MW hydropower project executed by the Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), whose penstock/tunnel failure caused seepages which turned to a flash flood and landslide devastating farmlands and property in Multhan village and market in the Chhota Bhangal (Barot) region of Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh. This documentary film compiles testimonies from the affected area, a day after the disaster took place on 10th May 2024. The evidently shaken up residents call out the absence of proper assessment of environmental impacts apart from willful negligence, corruption and the company-government nexus compromising local communities’ constitutional rights. While the implementation agreement of the project was signed in 2008-09 with Hyderabad based KU hydropower limited, the company that executed the project is MEIL (with a full stake in KU hydro). MEIL is also been under scrutiny for being the second largest donor of electoral bonds. Multhan’s residents are demanding an immediate technical and financial audit of the project apart from compensatory measures. This is not a one of a kind incident and such disasters are repeatedly seen in hydropower and mega infrastructures across the Himalaya. Other significant ecological fallouts of these projects include loss of riverine ecosystems and deforestation.