The long wait for the Renuka dam in Himachal Pradesh has come to naught with the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) rejecting the forest clearance for it. In a letter dated August 31, 2010, the ministry rejected the application of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) for diversion of forest land for the project in Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh.

The letter states that the government ‘has declined to accept the recommendations of the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) as the proposal involves high-density forest area requiring felling of a very large number of trees’.

Activists claim that the dam would have involved diversion of almost 775 hectares of forest land. The dam was being pushed strongly by the governments of Delhi and Himachal.

The Renuka Bandh Sangharsh Samiti and other groups and activists who have been demanding that the project be cancelled have welcomed the MoEF's decision. Over the last year, the Samiti along with groups like Himalaya Niti Abhiyan, People's Action for People in Need, Lok Vigyan Kendra, Jan Ekta Samiti, the Environment Research and Action Collective and South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers and People have written to the ministry pointing out that granting of the Forest Clearance would be illegal and in violation of the Forest Rights Act 2006 since the local rights on the forests are yet to be settled.

The environment clearance to the project which was granted in October 2009 has also been challenged in the Appellate Authority. Activists have now demanded permanent cancellation of the Renuka dam project.