Bhutan Rivers Watch

Bhutan, a country of less than one million inhabitants, is a mostly highland nation keen on holding onto its ancient Himalayan and Buddhist traditions. Yet, in some ways western ideals and modernization have made measured inroads into urban areas in the past decade. A growing number of people in government, as well as civil society, are advocating high economic growth goals. This development is being pursued steadily within the parameters laid out by their much-celebrated Gross National Happiness Commission. With great clarity, the Bhutanese government insists on maintaining a low-volume, but high-value tourism policy that has been the traditional mainstay of their economy.

The wheels of change were put in motion in the 1970s, when Bhutan and Indian officials began to study the feasibility of tapping the hydropower potential of the Himalayan Rivers flowing into and out of their sovereign limits. The hydropower potential of the gushing perennial mountain streams was identified as the sector to get them out of a sluggish isolated agrarian economy. Today, and for some years now, hydropower has become the financial mainstay, generating more than half the gross domestic product. The comparative growth of this sector has been so staggering that commentators have begun questioning the current all-eggs-in-one-basket approach. 

Free flowing stretches will be few and far between once all planned hydropower projects are commissioned

Bharat Lal Seth

Bhutan is economically and geopolitically an important regional ally of India. India is also Bhutan’s leading trade partner. In the past, three American presidents have visited the Himalayan kingdom, and the previous Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, made a state visit in 2008. On assuming power in May 2014, India’s current Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to Bhutan, highlighting the importance of the relationship between both countries. At the heart of this relationship is hydropower development; Modi laid the foundation stone for the 600 MW Kholongchhu project during his visit last year. 

The Himalayan Rivers flow through Bhutan with mouthwatering gradients if viewed from the perspective of a hydropower company. Bhutan’s hydropower journey began with the Chukha HydroElectric Project (HEP), the country's first large hydropower project, conceived in the 1970s, and commissioned in the late 1980s. The 336 MW project on the Wangchhu river was built by India on a turnkey basis, with 60% of the capital provided as grant, the rest in the form of a concessional loan. The project is a revenue earner for Bhutan through export of electricity to India, and until a decade back contributed over a quarter of Bhutan’s total revenue.

After the commissioning of the Chukha HEP, there was a gap before a steady stream of projects began generating power. Next in line were the 60 MW Kurichhu HEP in 2001, the 40 MW Basochhu in 2005, the 1,020 MW Tala HEP in 2007, and the 126 MW Dagachhu HEP earlier this year. To view a list of projects under construction, and those in the planning pipeline, click here. 

Bhutan plans 10,000 MW by 2020

Renewable Energy Department, Bhutan

Given that nearly three-fourths of all electricity generated in Bhutan is exported to India, that explains the latter's interest and involvement beyond its own borders. The big agreement between the two neighbours to drive hydropower development in Bhutan was signed in 2006 to cooperate in the field of hydropower. India agreed to import at least 5,000 MW. In 2009, this was boosted to import 10,000 MW by 2020, otherwise known as the 10/20 program.

Source: Department of Renewable Energy, Royal Government of Bhutan

According to data published by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, the assistance package in 2002-08 was to the tune of Rs 26.1 billion. This included Rs 9.07 billion for project tied assistance, Rs 8.2 billion as grant, and the rest in the form of refunds and subsidies. In the tenth plan, 2008-13, the Government of India committed assistance worth Rs 34 billion. But in spite of increased financial assistance, the remaining three projects of the 10/20 program - the Kuri Gongri HEP, the Amochhu Reservoir HEP and Sankosh Reservoir HEP - remain in the planning pipeline. India, in a change of heart, last year declined to finance these projects; Bhutan, however, is keen on going ahead with these projects, although they have been put on the back burner. The Joint Group meets every quarter, and the respective ambassadors are permanent invitees to these meetings. 

Most of Bhutan’s rivers drain into the Brahmaputra River. Civil society organizations have expressed concern that the project appraisal must take into account the downstream impacts. The Indian states of Assam and West Bengal share a border of 267 and 183 km respectively with Bhutan. The Manas and Sankosh River drain into Assam. The 600 MW Kholongchhu HEP, whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Modi, is upstream in the Manas river basin and an emergent concern for groups living downstream in India. Other planned reservoir dam projects, located upstream in the Manas and Sankosh river basin, will have social and ecological impacts downstream.

The Central Electrciity authority identified various hydropower dam sites in Bhutan with a potential of 23,760 MW

CEA, India

The Central Electricity Authority, a technical agency that oversees the development of the power sector in India, identified about 76 locations in Bhutan for hydropower projects to be built with a potential capacity of 23,760 MW. This plan envisaged that every single river in the Himalayan kingdom would be dammed. While the Government of Bhutan has begun to express caution about maximizing its full hydropower potential, there remain concerns about the lack of information in the public domain regarding existing and proposed projects, and their cumulative impacts, including downstream in India. However, neither the Government of Bhutan nor its counterparts across the border have put the Environment Impact Assessment reports of commissioned or under construction HEPs on their websites. There are grave concerns about the impacts on downstream communities, the flow of water in the lean and other seasons, the sediment and biota flows, as well as the health of riverine ecosystem.