HYDROPOWER PROJECTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: ADAPTATION STRATEGY FOR ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION THROUGH THE INTERFACE OF RESEARCH AND POLICY

Abstract

Water is becoming a greater focus of policy makers and planners for the generation of green energy in wake of the climate change. There is a big gap between the supply and demand of electricity in Pakistan. The Pakistan's share in the world's total energy consumption is less than 0.5% and its per capita energy consumption of about 14.2 million British thermal units (Btu) much lower than the technologically advanced countries. Seeking an urgent solution to the deficit forecast of energy, the Government of Pakistan launched an intra-provincial water diversion scheme of Ghazi Barotha Hydro Power Project (GBHPP) in 1995. The aim of this paper is to evaluate GBHPP in terms of benefits versus the adverse impacts on ecological resources and the resulting socio-economic effects on local users. The material and methods used were the collection of water discharge data of river Indus before and after the project, field visits, and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The analysis reveals that decrease in water flow in the river, has caused serious adverse impacts on the groundwater in the project area. Besides, the study has quantified the ecological changes due to changed hydrological regime, e.g. decline in fish catch, loss of forests and wildlife. The compensatory water discharges, designed in the project for aquatic life, are inadequate as well as defective by the way of discharge pattern. The paper suggests policy shift in environmental assessment system as well as further research into the residual effects to determine the optimum compensatory water discharges for developing harmony between the project and ecological as well as local needs of the society.