Karnataka - Hassan   

Gundia: samiti’s plea to Minister

HASSAN: The Malnad Janapara Horata Samiti has appealed to the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh to share details of an official team’s scheduled visit to Gundia project site in Hassan district.

Samithi president H.A. Kishore Kumar said here on Wednesday that the samiti had learnt that the Expert Appraisal Committee for River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects at a meeting on October 21 and 22 in New Delhi decided to depute a sub-group to visit the site of the controversial Gundia Hydroelectric Project in December to evaluate the damage to the environment.

Releasing the letter to the press, Mr. Kumar said they had requested the Ministry to share the itinerary of the sub-group with the samiti.

They had also sought an opportunity to accompany the members of the group on their visit to the site.

By doing so, the committee inspection would be transparent, he said.

Mr. Kumar said that the samiti had apprehensions that the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) would misguide the committee members, because as per committee observations the KPCL had changed land classification from forest to non-forest. The KPCL had also allegedly supplied poor satellite images to the committee for the assessment of the ecosystem.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Gundia: samiti’s plea to Minister
Residents oppose plan to open liquor outlet
Held on diesel theft charge

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu