NHPC bags MoEF's consent for pre-construction activities at Bursar HEP-I

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has finally acted upon the Expert Appraisal Committee's (EAC)

recommendations and has accordingly accorded clearance for pre-construction activities at the upcoming 1,200 MW

Bursar hydro electric project (HEP), located near the Pakal village in J&K's Kishtwar district.
8In June 2012, the EAC had discussed the project in detail and favored the grant of clearance for these

activities and approval of terms of reference (ToR) for two alternate project sites -- 1,200 MW project at

Pakal and 1,500 MW HEP at Hanzal.
8However, it was not until October this year that the developer NHPC received the environment ministry's

written consent for implementing this hydel project at the former location.
8In a recent communiqué with NHPC, the MoEF has directed the state-run major to strictly follow the additional

ToRs besides the norms prescribed for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or Environmental Management

Plan (EMP) report.
8The ToR will be valid for a period of two years from the date of issue of the MoEF letter, or till October 5,

2014, for submission of the EIA report. In case of any changes in the scope of the project, NHPC will be

required to obtain fresh scoping clearance from the project proponent.
8It may be noted that the Bursar project is a storage-based scheme that envisages construction of a 265 m high

concrete gravity dam, above the river bed level, across Marusudar river near Pakal village to generate 1,200 MW

of hydropower.