Short Note on Tehri Dam Rehabilitation and Resettlement

Tehri Dam Project included the construction of a reservoir spread of 42 sq. km. which submerged the Old Tehri Town and 24 villages, while another 88 villages were partially affected. In addition to these 13 more villages were fully affected due to land acquisition the project infrastructure and establishing new colonies. The plan of rehabilitation and resettlement was broadly divided into Urban Rehabilitation and Rural Rehabilitation. Those families whose 50% or more land was being acquired were treated as fully affected, while those families whose less than 50% of land was being acquired were categorized as Partially Affected and were not relocated.

The resettlement policy for Tehri Dam was evolved by the state government and was implemented through Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC). The basic principle of the rehabilitation policy was to compensate the rural oustees through allotment of agricultural land or cash in lieu. The displaced families were settled in large colonies so that the fabric of their social life remains intact. Representatives of the displaced families were involved in selecting the site for the resettlement colonies. Basic community facilities like schools, hospitals, water supply and sanitation facilities were provided at the resettlement colony at the cost of the project, even if these did not exist in the original settlement. Apart from the compensation for property, every rural family was also given 2 acres of developed irrigated land in a rural area. The total cost towards R&R (including land acquisition, compensations, development of facilities, etc.) was Rs. 1,484 cr. which was nearly 18% of the total cost of the Tehri Dam Project.