: The Athirapally hydel power project would be an “ecologically and economically bad” proposal as little power would be generated from it after causing massive destruction of forest and ecology, said noted environmentalist Sunita Narain.
The Kerala State Electricity Board has proposed the 163MW hydel power project in Athirapally across Chalakudy River.
The proposed project defies logic, especially when there is excess power produced in the country. Thermal power plants are being shut down in the National Capital Region of New Delhi for want of demand. Gas is now available at competitive rates. The logic that the hydel project needs to come up for meeting the energy needs is hard to understand, said Ms. Narain, a member of the High Level Working Group on Western Ghats. She was in Kochi in connection with a book the other day.
Athirapally will be an expensive project. Roads need to be constructed to the project site and people will have to be relocated. There is also the question of implementation of the Forest Rights Act of tribals of the area. The implementation would also lead to the destruction of forest and loss of biodiversity and that too for producing little power, she said.
Ms. Narain said the Centre was waiting for the Ghats states to dilute the Kasthurirangan committee report on protection of western ghats. The report should be implemented for protecting the remaining forest of the region, Ms. Narain said.
The HLWG report separated the cultural landscape, which has been modified by people, from the natural landscape. People have set up agriculture and settlements in western ghats and its part of the history. The cultural landscape cannot be turned back into virgin forest again, she said.
She argued for the protection of the natural landscape was left untouched. The spirit of the Kasturirangan committee report was to accept the fact that there was little natural forest left in the ghats and those stretches shall be protected. One needs to accept that everything outside the natural forests has been modified by people and hence the forest stretches that is left undisturbed shall be protected, she argued.
eom
