India, May 21 -- The Centre's submission in the Supreme Court that no new hydroelectric projects will be permitted in the upper reaches of the Ganga in Uttarakhand makes for interesting reading. The restriction applies only to new projects; seven projects in the basins of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi, the two main streams that constitute the Ganga at Devprayag, will be allowed to be completed and commissioned. These include the Tapovan Vishnugad project on Dhauliganga, a feeder of the Alaknanda system, which was badly damaged in the 2021 floods. It is unclear why the standards invoked in the case of new projects (geological and disaster-related parameters) should not be applied to under-construction dams in sites already identified as vulnera...