---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Chalakudy river <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: 18 Jan 2008 17:32:44 -0000 Subject: Action Alert: Athirappilly Dam work to start by March
Dear friend The long standing Athirappilly dam issue in Kerala, India has entered a very critical phase and your support at this stage means saving a river, its forests and its people from further devastation. Please Take Action and circulate the below letter amongst your friends/ institutions/ organizations/ groups who are working for the conservation of the Western Ghats and urge them to respond... And please do it without delay. Warm regards, For our rivers to flow S. Unnikrishnan, S.P Ravi, A. Latha, and all others Campaign to Save Chalakudy River from Proposed 163 MW Athirappilly Dam Project Enters Most Critical Phase Kerala State Electricity Board to Start Work by March 31st 2008 The ongoing campaign against the proposed 163 MW Athirappilly Hydro Electric Project across the Chalakudy River in Kerala Western Ghats has entered the most critical phase with the decision of the Kerala State Electricity Board ( KSEB) to start the work by March 2008. Meanwhile the High Court of Kerala has also issued directions to the KSEB to start work on the project by 31st March 2008. This was made possible through a Judgment (WP (Civil) No. 31044 of 2007 judgment dated 01-01-2008) in the wake of a case filed by the Hindustan Construction Company Ltd. (the Consortium which was awarded the civil work contract in 2001) against KSEB challenging its move to re tender the award of contract through fresh global tender. This direction given by the Single Bench comes at a time when two PILs challenging the Environmental Clearance and the Techno Economic Clearance, are pending in the High Court Division Bench filed at a date earlier to the HCC approaching the Court. The Issue - Update As you are all aware, the people's struggle against the proposed Athirappilly Hydro Electric Project has been going on since the year 2000. The Environmental Clearance granted to the project has been cancelled twice by the High Court of Kerala through its judgments of 17-10-2001 ( www.elaw.org/resources/text.asp?id=3057) and 23-03-2006 ( http://www.elaw.org/resources/text.asp?id=3083 ) in response to Public Interest Litigations filed by the Chalakudy Puzha Samrakshana Samithi and a downstream organization Nilanilpu during 2001 and by Athirappilly grama panchayath, Kadar tribe Geetha and Er. Madhusoodhanan during 2005, challenging the Environmental Clearance, the fabricated data base and gross under estimation of the environmental and tribal impacts of the project. At both the Court ordered Public Hearings on 6th Feb 2002 and 15th June 2006, people from the river valley had rejected the project on social, economic and environmental grounds. However, the KSEB and the Kerala State Pollution Control Board that held the Public Hearing in 2006 tampered with the PH proceedings. The River Valley Expert Committee that recommends the Clearance for the project also made a site visit to the project area in April 2007 in response to complaints received from the people and directions from the PMO office and sensed people's resistance to implementation of the project. However, the KSEB and the Kerala State Pollution Control Board obtained Environmental Clearance for the project on 18th July 2007. Geetha and Madhusoodhanan have again filed PILs in the High Court during October 2007 challenging the Environmental and Techno Economic Clearance respectively. The case is pending in the High Court and yet to be heard. What is the Loss? Loss of Athirappilly Waterfalls – An ICON of the Chalakudy River, one of the most visited tourist spots in South India, well placed in the Tourism map of India Loss of the last remaining riparian forest stretch in the river ( the rest has been mostly submerged under the six dams upstream and dried up downstream of the dams ) – perhaps the only remaining low elevation ( 200-300 MSL) riparian stretch in Kerala Western Ghats Submergence of most frequently used elephant route from Parambikulam Wild Life Sanctuary to Pooyamkutty forests Most frequent citing area of all the four Hornbills together in the Kerala Western Ghats – Pied Hornbill cited most frequently Vazhachal Forest Division within which the project area falls has very high conservation value of 75% as per French Institute of Pondicherry's Studies on Kerala State forests (second to Mankulam Forest Division) – need for preserving the area from further destruction Endemic, highly endangered, primitive, forest dwelling and river dependent Kadar tribal community under threat of loss of livelihood and habitat due to the new dam. A tribe already displaced several times due to the dams upstream with no proper rehabilitation package so far. Around 300 out of the 1500 number of the tribe remaining on earth to be displaced. The habitat of one of the highest Fish Diversity Rivers (104 sp) in India to be destroyed. Presence of riffles, pools and rapids in the river along with riparian forests at low altitude sustains the high diversity of fish species for a 144 km small river with five sp. new to science. Upstream area recommended for a Fish Sanctuary by the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR). Drinking and irrigation water needs of lakhs of people to be severely affected due to high daily flow fluctuation in the river. The Project is intended to be operated as a peak load station from 6pm to 11 pm. The summer flow in the river is already very low due to the peaking operation of the existing 48 MW HEP just 3 km upstream of the dam and regulation by the other five dams above out of which four divert around 40% water to Tamil Nadu via Parambikulam Aliyar Inter State Inter Basin Treaty. A seventh dam would mean the death of the river itself............. Can we afford to lose this rich and diverse habitat and an equally unique river system in the Western Ghats for a dam that has been proven to be economically and technically unviable by experts? The resistance is growing Since the fresh Environmental Clearance granted to the project in July 2007, people's resistance to the project has been increasing. Several political parties and social and environmental groups have joined hands with the movement to SAVE THE RIVER from further damming. Several national level political leaders like Sri V.M.Sudheeran ex MP ( Congress I) , Sri C.K.Padmanabhan (BJP central committee member), Sri Sreyams Kumar MLA (Janata Dal and Member, Legislative Committee for Environment), several renown social leaders like Medha Patkar, Dr, Sukumar Azhikode, Late Prof. M.N.Vijayan, Prof, Sobhindran (Vrikshamitra awarded) renowned literary figures like Sugathakumari ( poet) , Prof. Sara Joseph ( writer) to name a few have already visited the project area, interacted with the people, sensed the strong resistance to the project and declared their support to the campaign. Massive grass root level and regional campaigns like, rallies, conventions, public meetings, debates, Satyagrahas, Dharnas (sit in), Poster exhibitions, school and college level campaigns in collaboration with regional groups across the state are going on since October 2007. A huge all party convention with the intention of forming an Action Council has been planned on the 23rd January 2008 at Chalakudy. However, the Government of Kerala is going ahead with the preliminary work for starting the project implementation. The KSEB has asked the Kerala Forest Department to release 25 ha. of forest for preliminary operations. The High Court has also ordered the KSEB to start work by March 31st. At this critical juncture, as you are well aware, the Court alone cannot be relied upon. Support from every quarter is invaluable for the people in the river valley to stop the project at any cost. The support from national and international groups and institutions working for conserving the remnants of wild areas across the globe is also significant to save this critical habitat in the Southern Western Ghats. Support from every individual who is concerned about the plight of the Western Ghats is relevant at this moment. For the last five years, we have been constantly interacting with the Chalakudy river basin local self governments (grama panchayaths), Kadar tribes, women, students and other communities and collecting data and information from different sources for the evolution of a participatory and decentralized river restoration plan which is a unique venture even to India. Moreover, several experts have pointed out that Chalakudy River being one of the better studied rivers in India and with around 1,200 sq.km out of the 1,704 sq.km catchment under Forest Department (though in a highly fragmented state due to dams and plantations), chances of rejuvenation are high compared to other rivers. Considering the uniqueness of the river for the Western Ghats, and considering the increasing global level policy significance to maintain the environmental flows of rivers, we appeal that the Government should be focusing on taking steps to revive this river as a sample case for India rather than aiding its further destruction. Against all the above, we humbly request you to immediately write to the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Sri.V.S.Achuthanandan, the Chief Minister of Kerala and Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi to take steps to stop the move to construct the proposed Athirappilly HEP across the Chalakudy River and instead take steps to restore the river. With hope and trust For our rivers to flow.............................. Address to send/ mail the letters Dr. Manmohan Singh Prime Minister of India South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India-110 011. Telephone: 91-11-23012312. Fax: 91-11-23019545 / 91-11-23016857. Sri.V.S.Achuthanandan Chief Minster of Kerala Room No.141, Third Floor, North Block, Govt. Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram-1 Ph.0471- 2333812, 2333682,2332148, 2332184, 2333591, 2333610 Fax. 0471-2333489 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Smt. Sonia Gandhi, President, Indian National Congress 10, Janpath, NewDelhi - 110001. Ph. (O) (011) 23017470, 23034285, 23016705, 23034984; (R) 23014481, 23014161, 23792656 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Given below are a few links to the news and information related to the proposed project. http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/06/20/stories/2006062002401000.htm(Editorial) http://www.wwfindia.org/news_facts/infocus/focus2.cfm http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/01/stories/2007040109971100.htm http://www.hinduonnet.com/mag/2007/12/23/stories/2007122350050200.htm(Sunday Mag) http://salimalifoundation.org/cpss.html (information) Date:02/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/02/stories ... Date:24/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/24/stories ... Date:16/06/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/16/stories ... Date:08/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/08/stories ... www.hinduonnet.com/2007/07/31/stories/2007073162260100.htm Date:15/06/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/15/stories ... Date:27/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/27/stories ... Date:13/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/13/stories ... Date:19/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/19/stories ... Date:14/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/14/stories ... Date:20/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/01/20/stories ... Date:20/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/02/20/stories ... Date:15/08/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/15/stories ... Date:15/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/15/stories ... Date:28/11/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/11/28/stories ... Contacts: S.Unnikrishnan (09847283120) A.Latha (91-487-6524110), S.P.Ravi (09249898773, 09249122184), Chalakudy Puzha Samrakshana Samithi Chaithanya, Moozhikkakadavu, Pariyaram.P.O., Chalakudy 680721, Kerala, India E mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] , [EMAIL PROTECTED] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
