PEOPLE REJECT THE PROPOSED ATHIRAPPILLY HYDRO ELECTRIC PROJECT AT 'PEOPLES PUBLIC HEARING' HELD ON 7th MAY at CHALAKUDY, KERALA
The details of the Panel 2005 recommendation was released at the Ernakulam Press Club on the 18th May PANEL MEMBERS 1. Prof. M.K. Prasad: Chairman (Pro VC Calicut University) 2. Dr. S. Shankar: Member (Scientist, Kerala Forest Research Institute) 3. Sri. P.S. Gopinathan Nair: Member (Retd. officer, Indian Statistical Institute) 4. Sri. N.R. Satheesan: Member (Member, Athirappilly Grama Panchayath, also was panel member in 2002 Public Hearing) 5. Dr. V. Sundararaman: Member (Retd. Scientist, CSIR- panel member in 2002 PH) 6. Chairman, Kerala State Pollution Control Board: (Invited but did not turn up) 7. Power Secretary, Kerala State: (Invited but did not turn up) 8. Director: Science Technology and Environment Committee, Kerala (invited but did not turn up) 9. District Collector, Thrissur: (invited but did not turn up) 10. District Panchayath Member, Thrissur: (invited but did not turn up) The 250 odd people from the Chalakudy river valley and other parts of Kerala who gathered at the Gopalakrishna Auditorium, Chalakudy to attend the PEOPLES' PUBLIC HEARING on the 7th May 2005 unanimously demanded that the 163 MW Athirappilly HEP must be abandoned unconditionally. Several groups in the river basin (Chalakudy Puzha Samrakshana Samithi, Vana Samrakshana Samithi-Athirappilly, Chathuram Film Society- Koratty, Nilanilpu from Kodungallur etc.) jointly organized the Peoples Public Hearing. Atleast 37 representations were made before the peoples' panel that was attended by just five of the ten panel members invited. Five invited members to the panel did not turn up (but who are supposed to conduct the PH officially). The representations came from a wide section of the society including five local body representatives, members of Vazhachal and Pokalapara 'Kadar' tribal settlements, Vana Samrakshana Samithi office bearers (Forest Protection Groups of people living in fringe areas of the forest) of Athirappilly and Vettilappara region, downstream voluntary organizations, Farmers' groups, canal command area farmers, students, scientists, technical experts from the field of fisheries and EIA etc. The Chalakudy MLA Prof. Savithri Lakshmanan under whose assembly constituency the project site falls sat through the hearing process and gave assurance to her people that she will not allow projects that would create livelihood problems for the people (she changed her stance in favor of the project the very next day in front of the State Power Minister). CONCLUSIONS OF THE PEOPLES' PUBLIC HEARING PANEL 1. The people in the Chalakudy river basin are still retaining their stance taken three years ago at the February 2002 public hearing against the proposed Athirappilly Hydro Electric project conducted by KSEB as per High Court orders. They are not ready for any more compromises. 2. Procedurally a Public Hearing organized by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board should have followed the WAPCOS EIA. But this has not happened so far. This is a clear violation of the EIA guidelines set by the MoEF. 3. Neither the Athirappilly Grama Panchayath in which the project is proposed nor the Vazhachal and Pokalapara 'Kadar' tribal settlements who face displacement have been informed or involved in the WAPCOS EIA process. Even the downstream grama panchayaths are unaware of the new EIA that was carried out. 4. There are a number of factual mistakes and false information in the WAPCOS EIA as revealed at the evidences given at the people's public hearing. (The 56 families of the Vazhachal tribal settlement are just 400 m downstream of the dam site as proved from the statement made by the tribal living in the settlement. They have not been even indicated anywhere in the EIA.) 5. The people and local body representatives living downstream are deeply concerned about the impact of the project on the 14,000 ha ayacut Chalakudy River Diversion Scheme (CRDS) downstream of the project site. The CRDS is already operating at low efficiency due to insufficient stream flow in the river. Further regulation in river flow would lead to severe crop loss and drinking water shortage in the ayacut areas. 6. The downstream people and local body representatives are also concerned about the impact of the project on the existing drinking water and lift irrigation schemes that are entirely dependent on the river. Reduction and regulation in river flow downstream would severely affect the operation of these schemes. 7. The impact of the dam and reservoir on the livelihoods of the tribals, on the river fishing communities, on the tourism potential of the area, the riparian ecology, the elephant corridor, and the fish diversity and hornbill distribution are severely underestimated in the WAPCOS EIA. 8. At present there is scope for generating 17,000 MU (Million Units) of power per annum in Kerala against the requirement of 13,000 MU. Reduction of atleast 10% in the present T& D loss of 3360 MU itself would be more than the power to be generated from proposed Athirappilly HEP (233 MU). The claim of KSEB that this power is for the peak load demand also does not stand since the duration of power generation in summer months would be less than two hours (as per the water availability). So for the balance four hours of peak load, KSEB would have to depend on the existing thermal units. Moreover the cost of power per unit from this project would be Rs. 6 per unit (much higher than the cost of thermal power). RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PANEL THE PANEL WAS UNANIMOUSLY CONVINCED FROM THE PRESENTATIONS MADE BY THE PEOPLE THAT THE PROPOSED ATHIRAPPILLY HEP HAS BEEN IMPOSED ON THE PEOPLE WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT. THE PANEL WAS EQUALLY CONVINCED THAT THE PROJECTED DEMAND FOR THIS NEW POWER PROJECT FOR KERALA BY KSEB TO TIDE OVER THE POWER SHORTAGE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE AND JUSTIFIED. HEARING THE REPRESENTATIONS AND TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE VARIOUS POINTS RAISED BY THE PEOPLE REGARDING THE ANOMALITIES IN THE WAPCOS EIA AND THE PROPOSED PROJECT, THE PEOPLES PUBLIC HEARING PANEL CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE GOVERNMENT MAY PLEASE REVOKE THE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE GIVEN TO THE PROPOSED 163 MW ATHIRAPPILLY HYDRO ELECTRIC PROJECT AND HEED TO THE PLEA OF THE PEOPLE NOT TO GO AHEAD WITH A PROJECT THEY DO NOT NEED.
