The Centre’s environment panel will this week consider clearance for the long-delayed Sawalkote hydropower project on the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting comes as India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty after the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, placing new focus on tapping the river’s potential.
Panel weighs clearance without studies
According to a report in The Indian Express, the project, run by NHPC, is planned as a 1,865 megawatt hydropower station. It involves building a 192.5-metre concrete gravity dam and a reservoir spread over more than 1,100 hectares. Sawalkote would be one of the largest hydro projects on the western rivers of the Indus system.
The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Environment Ministry will decide whether to recommend environmental clearance without fresh cumulative impact and carrying capacity studies. These studies are normally required to assess the combined effect of multiple projects in a river basin. Exempting Sawalkote would fast-track its approval.
In June, the Ministry of Home Affairs wrote to the Environment Ministry calling the project “of strategic significance” and saying that “swift dam construction is essential for leveraging Chenab River’s potential.” The Ministry of Power also said that a detailed basin-wide study at this stage “may have implications on the already initiated clearances and approval processes.”
The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) had already granted an exemption from these studies in July. It noted that guidelines for cumulative studies were introduced in 2013, while Sawalkote was first initiated in 1984. The FAC said the rules did not apply retrospectively. Still, final approval depends on the EAC’s recommendation.
Forest loss and data disputes
The project would divert 846 hectares of forest land across Udhampur, Ramban, Reasi and Mahore. Official records say it will require the felling of more than 222,000 trees. Of these, over 126,000 are in Ramban district. The project’s two stages will generate 1,406 MW and 450 MW respectively.
Environmentalists in Jammu and Kashmir have raised concerns about the ecological cost. In a submission to the State Pollution Control Board in 2016, they argued it was “misleading” to describe Sawalkote as a run-of-river project because the reservoir would alter natural flows and inundate wide stretches of the valley. They pointed out that the Chenab already hosts several large dams, including Dulhasti, Baglihar and Salal.
The NHPC has said it has updated baseline environmental data to meet requirements. The company collected fresh primary data during the 2022 monsoon, the 2023 winter, and the 2023 pre-monsoon seasons. It argues this data addresses concerns that the original environmental studies from 2016 are outdated.
Experts warn of ecological risks
Hydrology experts warn that dams of this scale can affect downstream flow, fish migration and sediment movement. Reduced sediment supply may destabilize river channels and affect farmland along the floodplain. Large reservoirs also raise the risk of slope instability and landslides in steep Himalayan valleys.
The Environment Ministry’s own guidelines state that projects failing to secure in-principle forest clearance within 18 months should update their baseline studies. Sawalkote has been delayed for decades due to Centre-state disputes and objections under the Indus Waters Treaty. Pakistan had previously asked for information about the project, but India did not share details, as the treaty only required notification six months before construction began.
With the treaty now suspended, the government has placed Sawalkote among its strategic priorities. Tenders for several components have already been floated, and the project has become a test case for balancing national security with environmental safeguards.
The EAC’s decision will determine whether construction can finally move forward. For communities along the Chenab, the project could mean both electricity and jobs, but also the loss of forests, land, and river habitats that have shaped local life for generations.
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