Renuka Dam Gets Final Forest Clearance, Project Set for Completion by 2030
In a major boost to the long-delayed Renuka Dam project, the Centre has granted final forest clearance, paving the way for construction of the ₹6,947-crore multi-purpose dam aimed at easing water scarcity in the National Capital Region. The project, which will be built on the Giri River at Dadahu in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district, is now expected to be completed by 2030.
Vasanth Kiran Babu, Conservator of Forests, Nahan, confirmed that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change gave Stage-II approval on June 4, allowing the diversion of 909 hectares of forest land for the dam’s construction.
With land acquisition already completed, authorities are now finalizing technical specifications. Initial work will focus on building three 1.5-km diversion tunnels to temporarily redirect the Giri River— a tributary of the Yamuna— to prepare the site for the 148-metre-high rock-fill dam.
The project, however, comes at a social and environmental cost. It will impact 41 villages, displacing around 7,000 people and rendering 346 families homeless. A total of 1,508 hectares of land will be submerged, including 1,231 hectares of agricultural land, 909 hectares of reserved forest, and 49 hectares of the Renuka Wildlife Sanctuary. A 24-km tunnel will also be constructed as part of the infrastructure.
Conceived decades ago, the Renuka Dam was initially proposed in the 1960s as a 40 MW hydroelectric project. The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board prepared a detailed project report (DPR) in 1993 to serve Delhi’s drinking water needs. Following DPR approval, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan signed an MoU in 1994 to allocate water from the Upper Yamuna basin, including the Renuka reservoir.
Declared a national project in 2009, the dam is set to supply Delhi with a firm water flow of 23 cubic metres per second and will also serve as a flood mitigation structure during monsoon seasons. The Centre will fund 90% of the water component of the project.
Originally targeted for completion in 2014, the project was halted by the National Green Tribunal in 2010-11 over environmental concerns. Although it received Stage-I clearance in 2015, delays and cost escalations have nearly doubled the budget from its original estimate of ₹3,572 crore to ₹6,947 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the dam in December 2021. With the final forest nod now in place, the long-stalled project is finally on track.
