Kirthai-II Forest Nod Puts India's Chenab Hydropower Push in Focus

A panel of the Union environment ministry has recommended in-principle forest diversion approval for the 820 MW Kirthai-II hydroelectric project on the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir, clearing one of the last major hurdles for a scheme that has become emblematic of India's renewed hydropower ambitions in the Indus basin.

What the panel cleared

The Forest Advisory Committee has backed the diversion of 197 hectares of forest land for the project, planned in the high-mountain terrain of Kishtwar district. The recommendation is significant because Kirthai-II had already secured an environmental-clearance recommendation back in 2021, leaving forest clearance as the critical outstanding precondition. The project's capacity has been trimmed from an earlier 930 MW proposal to 820 MW.

Project papers cited in public reporting describe a 121-metre concrete gravity dam planned in the Padder area. The decision converts a long-pending file into a live construction prospect, and signals how seriously New Delhi is treating run-of-river capacity on the Chenab.

The ecological trade-off

The site sits amid temperate forest of pine, silver fir, oak and other Himalayan species, and official records note the likely felling of 8,723 trees. The surrounding habitat supports Himalayan tahr, Asiatic black bear, Himalayan brown bear and ibex, prompting the committee to require detailed wildlife, biodiversity, habitat and animal-passage plans as conditions of the approval.

A strategic water-and-energy story

The nod comes as India moves faster on Chenab-linked hydropower following the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack. Kirthai-II now joins a cluster of planned or cleared projects including Sawalkote, Ratle, Pakal Dul, Kiru and Kwar, knitting together a strategy that ties water utilisation, renewable generation and regional development.

• Project capacity: 820 MW (reduced from 930 MW).
• Forest land to be diverted: 197 hectares.
• Estimated trees to be felled: 8,723.
• Planned structure: a 121-metre concrete gravity dam in Padder, Kishtwar.
• Environmental clearance recommendation dated to 2021; forest nod was the final precondition.

“The committee has asked for wildlife, biodiversity, habitat and animal-passage plans before work proceeds.”

— Forest Advisory Committee conditions

The core policy question now is how India balances strategic water use, clean-energy expansion and a fragile Himalayan ecology. As the Chenab cascade gathers pace, Kirthai-II is likely to be a test case for whether large hydropower and Himalayan conservation can advance side by side.

The NE Times View

Harnessing the Chenab strengthens India's hand in the Indus basin and its clean-energy goals, but forest diversion in a fragile Himalayan zone is no small bargain. The NE Times backs hydropower's strategic logic while insisting ecological costs be counted honestly, not waved through. The 820 MW gain means little if landslides, displacement and lost forest cover are quietly externalised onto local communities.

This article is original commentary and analysis by The NE Times. Background facts were referenced from The Indian Express and official Forest Advisory Committee records.