UDTR — Radar mondial des droits de la Nature

From River to Reservoir: Hydropower Development and Biodiversity Loss in Kinnaurs HighAltitude Landscapes.

Identification

Clé publique

doi:10.56975/ijvra.v4i8.709673

Auteurs

Kamaljeet Singh · Ms. Monika Singh

Année déclarée

2026

Langue déclarée

en

Type source

article

Première détection

2026-11-09T19:16:51.618419+00:00

Dernière observation des métadonnées

2026-11-09T19:16:51.618419+00:00

Dernière vérification HTTP

Non effectuée

Institutions déclarées par la source

Himachal Pradesh University

Résumé documentaire — langue originale

Hydropower development along the Sutlej basin has transformed Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh into a major electricity corridor, with multiple large and medium projects cutting across a fragile, high-altitude landscape. This article undertakes a socio-legal examination of how these projects infringing the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (BDA), focusing on biodiversity loss, particularly of the near-threatened chilgoza pine (Pinus gerardiana) and functioning of statutory biodiversity institutions in a Scheduled Tribal district. After outlining the key provisions and institutional design of the Biological Diversity Act,2002especially Sections 36, 37 and 41, the article situates Kinnaur’s hydropower expansion within a broader pattern of forest diversion, river regulation and high-mountain habitat fragmentation. It then analyses the implementation gap in the constitution and use of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) and People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs), drawing on National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders that have treated nationwide non-compliance with the Act as a serious governance failure. NGT interventions in hydropower-related conflicts in Kinnaur, such as the Kashang Integrated Hydro Electric Project, are used to illustrate emerging standards on community participation, cumulative impact assessment and procedural justice. The article concludes that Kinnaur offers a critical test case for the BDA as a living instrument of environmental governance: while the statutory framework is capable of foregrounding biodiversity and community rights in hydropower decisions, in practice it has been marginal in a district where forests, rivers and tribal livelihoods are undergoing rapid and often irreversible change.

Identifiants

OPENALEX

W7172504371

DOI

10.56975/ijvra.v4i8.709673

Repères documentaires

Famille documentaire

Doctrine

Types déclarés par les sources

article

Entités naturelles mentionnées

Fleuve / rivière · Forêt · Montagne · Paysage

Les mentions d’entités ne constituent pas une preuve de reconnaissance juridique. La juridiction étudiée est distincte du pays d’affiliation des auteurs.

Sources

OpenAlex · Document 1 · Document 2

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.56975/ijvra.v4i8.709673
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W7172504371

Statut documentaire

Pertinence à examiner

Bibliothèque

Cette identité n’est pas encore intégrée à la Bibliothèque juridique.