Six states signed an agreement this week to finally push ahead with the long-delayed Kishau Multipurpose Project on the Tons River. The 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam will irrigate nearly 97,000 hectares, generate about 1,476 million units of electricity every year, and improve water supply across the Yamuna basin.
However, official estimates show the reservoir will submerge around 2,950 hectares of land. This will affect 17 villages and about 5,498 people. Of this, 1,498 hectares lie across eight villages in Himachal Pradesh and 1,452 hectares across nine villages in Uttarakhand.
In Himachal Pradesh, the Kishau Dam project will mainly affect villages in the Shillai area of Sirmaur district. These include Mohrad, Mashwar, Kandyari, Nera, Badalani, Siyasu, Thanana and Dharwa. A smaller portion falls in the Chaupal area of Shimla district.
These figures come from earlier project documents. To get updated numbers, Kishau Corporation has invited bids for detailed physical surveys and mapping of private, revenue and forest land in Shillai (Sirmaur) and Chaupal (Shimla). The survey will record houses, fields and other structures that fall in the submergence zone.
For the affected families, the impact goes beyond village numbers. Many will lose homes, agricultural land, community assets and livelihoods. Questions remain about compensation, resettlement sites, and whether people will get land-for-land or only cash.
The project will also change the Tons River valley. It will submerge cultivated land as well as forest areas, including reserve and civil forests. Environmental studies still need to assess the effects on river flow, aquatic habitats, forests, sediment movement and the wider mountain ecosystem.
Authorities have not yet completed the environmental clearances. Consultants earlier prepared the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environment Management Plan (EMP). Appraisal documents from early 2026 mention these studies and the need for public consultations. It remains unclear which clearances authorities have granted, which remain pending, and what conditions regulators will impose before construction begins.
On funding, the Centre will bear about 90% of the water component cost. The six states will share the remaining 10%. Separate arrangements exist for the power component, with Delhi and Rajasthan set to cover part of Himachal Pradesh’s share in return for water allocation. The total project cost stands between ₹15,000 crore and ₹15,624 crore.
The agreement ends a long-running dispute over financing and water-sharing under the 1994 Yamuna basin framework. The next steps will focus on exact land acquisition, number of families to relocate, rehabilitation packages, forest diversion, and environmental safeguards.
These answers will decide what the Kishau project ultimately means for the communities and landscape of the Tons valley.
