area of Pancheswar Dam in Uttarakhand, india (Google)

Close to 20,000 people in India and Nepal will have to move if the approved Pancheswar dam is built, and they’re not happy about it.

About 300 villagers showed up to a December meeting to protest against the dam, according to a story in Nainital Samachar newspaper, and protests are common in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The new dam is expected to displace about 120 Indian and about 50 Nepali villages, with about 19,500 residents in all.

But government officials say they need the 6,500 megawatts of new electricity to fill existing gaps, including power for many rural villages. For example, Uttarakhand needs 15.5 million units of power, daily, but power production stands only at 5 million units, the government says.

Other power projects currently under construction are expected to generate another 11,480 kilowatts of power for the Uttarkhand region.

If built, the Pancheswar dam would cost $2.98 billion, based on a 1995 estimate. It would take 13 and a half years to complete.

Villagers also complain that the height of the dam, proposed at 315 meters, is unsafe. Other detractors say forests will be wiped out and a special fish claled the mahasheer could become extinct. In August 2003, 29 workers were killed when Tihri Dam collapsed, submerging Tihri town in water. The collapse was attributed to the dam’s high walls.

Potential landslides also are an issue, villagers say, citing a similar landslide in Malpa, a hilly district in India, which killed 380 people. The proposed dam also is in a high-risk earthquake zone.

The Pancheswar dam was proposed in 1994 under an agreement between India and Nepal claled the Mahakali Treaty. Some Nepali political parties are not happy with the treaty, now, including the country’s opposition party.