5 min readShimlaUpdated: May 1, 2026 09:36 AM IST
Two small hydropower projects coming up in Kasol in Parvati Valley fall under the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of Kanwar Wildlife Sanctuary but do not need environment clearance, the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) has informed the National Green Tribunal.
As per the submission by the MoEFCC, projects above 25MW capacity need to procure green clearance from the standing committee of National Board of Wild Life (SC-NBWL), while the projects in Kasol are of 5 MW each.
The NGT is hearing petition filed by residents of two villages — Thunja and Grahan — against the two hydel projects. The petitioners have alleged that the two projects on Grahan Nullah poses a threat to the existence of their villages and the flora, and fauna of Parvati Valley. It says that the projects also pose threat to their only natural source of drinking water and are coming up on fragile slope which was once declared unfit for any hydro-power project. The petitioners have also also alleged that the two projects essentially function as a single unit, and operate from a single Palampur-based address. They further allege that to avoid NBWL scrutiny, the owners followed a “textbook case of project splitting” by using different names for the same water source, one calling it Grahan Nullah and the other Kasol river.
The projects in question are Kasol small hydro project, owned by Beena Butail, and the Grahan-Kasol hydro project, owned by tea grower Dinesh Butail.
Beena Butail is wife of veteran Congress leader Brij Bihari Butail and mother of Palmpur MLA Ashish Butail, who is also a chief parliamentary secretary. Dinesh Butail is father of Gokul Butail, principal adviser (IT, Innovation and Governance) to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
During the resumed hearing on August 27, Gokul Butail filed an affidavit submitting that his father has sold the project to another entity. He also dismissed the allegations “project splitting”. “The Kasol SHEP and Grahan Kasol SHEP are independent projects having separate approvals, separate project reports and separate implementation frameworks. The replying respondent is the sole proprietor of Grahan-Kasol SHEP,” read the affidavit submitted by Gokul on behalf of his father.
Gokul’s affidavit further adds, “Owing to commercial and administrative considerations, and strictly in accordance with the applicable policy and contractual framework, the replying respondent sought transfer of the project to a new project proponent. The said transfer was effected through a duly executed tripartite agreement dated March 6, 2025 between the State Government, the replying respondents, and the new entity namely M/S Aptsgreen Power Private Limited, with prior approval of the competent authority.”
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Gokul told The Indian Express that he filed the reply as his father has gone abroad. “We have sold that hydro project. We had all the requisite permissions when we set up the hydro projects”.
In the separate affidavit before the NGT, Technical Officer, MoEFCC, Nand Kishore Dimri, said, “It is submitted that both projects fall under ESZ of Kanwar Wildlife Sanctuary”.
Earlier, on April 9, the Jal Shakti Vibhag (JSV), through its Superintendent Engineer, Vinod Kumar Thakur, had in a reply submitted that its “statutory and administrative mandate” is confined “solely to examining whether the proposed hydro projects would have any adverse impact on existing drinking water supply schemes or irrigation schemes” under the control of the department. “The obligation to environmental clearance, cumulative impact assessment, forest clearance, wildlife clearance, FRA compliance, slope-stability studies, or blasting permissions and cumulative impact assessment of interlinked projects lies with the project proponent and the clearance-granting authorities concerned. The Jal Shakti Vibhag is not the designated agency for such appraisal. Issuance of water-use NOC does not amount to ‘appraisal’ or “clearance” of the hydro project itself,” it submitted. It further said that there is no water scheme of the Jal Shakti Vibhag linked to the stream on which hydro projects were being built.
The petitioners, including Chandresh Kumar, Chet Ram, Mukesh Kumar of village Thunja along with Maheshwar Singh and Inder Devi of village Grahan, have alleged that the the projects threaten the very existence of the only natural source of drinking water, a ‘Bawdi’. Hey have also alleged that the projects under consideration could have severe consequences for the fragile ecosystem of the Parvati Valley. It has been contended that the projects may endanger local wildlife, disrupt natural water systems, and pose a direct threat to the habitability and safety of Thunja village.
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The plea also questions the validity and adequacy of the Wildlife Mitigation Plan prepared in relation to the projects, and urged the NGT to quash the same and direct a comprehensive, independent environmental assessment.
