*Dam Has Kerala Greens Up In Arms*
***The proposed Athirapally dam will destroy the habitat of endangered
species and tribals in the Chalakkudy river basin, say activists
**KA Shaji**
Thrissur*
Another Indian river is set to die. Kerala's Chalakkudy will soon no longer
have the water to feed its famous waterfalls, Athirapally and Vazhachal.
Ignoring the apprehensions of tribals and conservation activists, the Union
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) has given the green signal to the
VS Achuthanandan government to go ahead with its long-pending controversial
project to set up a 163MW hydel power plant by blocking the river just
before the Athirapally falls.
Though the power generation target remains small, the project will wipe out
the region's rich biodiversity and render hundreds of adivasis homeless.
Located on the Western Ghats, the riverine forests of Athirapally- Vazhachal
host a unique ecosystem. Intermingled with swamps, they support a large
number of rare and endangered species of plants and animals. While
scientists are still discovering many new species here, the project is
posing a major threat to their survival.
In spite of the stiff local resistance to the project under the banner of
the Chalakkudy River Protection Forum, the MOEF is in no mood to relent.
Both the ruling Left Democratic Front and the Opposition Congress-led United
Democratic Front support the project and have exerted pressure on the Union
ministry to give its approval. The MOEF had recently denied permission to
another controversial hydel project at Pathrakadavu as it fell within the
buffer zone of the Silent Valley National Park.
According to the Kerala State Electricity Board's own opinion, the project
will require the diversion of over 130 hectares of highly sensitive riverine
forest land. An environmental disaster in the making, the project will sever
the only link between the Peechi Vazhani Wildlife Sanctuary and the
Idamalayar basin of the Periyar river. The vital elephant corridor between
the Parambikulam Sanctuary and the Pooyamkutty forests will also be
affected. Apart from being home to the tiger and leopard, the forests also
host the hornbill, the Nilgiri langur, the liontailed macaque and the rare
Cochin forest cane turtle.
On the tourism front, the project would wipe out the Athirapally and
Vazhachal waterfalls, which draw six lakh domestic and foreign tourists
every year.
In 1998, the Kerala government came up with the proposal for a hydel project
using the tail-end waters of the existing Poringalkuthu dam (constructed
across the Chalakkudy in Thrissur district). In February 2000, the state
government cleared the diversion of 138.60 hectares of forest land for
building the Athirapally dam. But the delay in getting the MOEF nod had
affected construction work.
According to Kerala Electricity Minister AK Balan, the government went ahead
with the project following an environmental impact study conducted by the
Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute in Thiruvananthapuram.
"That has addressed almost all the issues the environmentalists, have
raised.'' he claims. The impact study, in fact, provided the green signal
for the Union ministry's clearance.
However, environmentalists have found faults in the study. "It is silent on
the actual volume of trees that would be submerged and the submergence of
over 402 rare plants," says Mohandas of the River Protection Forum. "The
report was prepared in a hurry after a three-month-long study in 1996. To
get an authentic picture of the area's biodiversity, the study should have
covered all seasons. Most birds breed during February-April, this period was
not covered,'' he says.
"The report admits that the field visit was scheduled during the monsoon,
when the river was flooded. That made the collection of parameters diffcult
and in some cases impossible," says noted environmentalist Prof MK Prasad.
According to Dr RVG Menon of the Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad, the
144km-long Chalakkudy river system has a record of 99 fish species. "Five
new fish species were recently discovered in the Chalakkudy; 71 of the 99
species recorded from the basin are found in the zone where the dam is
proposed," he says.
"Do remember that the Chalakkudy is just 144km long but it is the fifth
largest river in Kerala," warns social activist CR Neelakandan. "The river
has been hugely dammed already. There are six dams for power and one for
irrigation. At least five lakh people from 19 panchayats and two
municipalities depend on the river. Once the new dam comes up at
Athirapally, it will affect all these people."
Apart from biodiversity, the dam will also threaten the traditional way of
life of the Kadars, the local adivasis, who have been living here for
hundreds of years. Any relocation will wipe out their links with the forest.
Though major political parties are in favour of the project, local
resistance is now gathering momentum. The protest has taken an interesting
turn recently with the decision of 33 organisations to fight the project
together.
*Sep 22, 2007*
http://www.tehelka.com/story
_main34.asp?filename=Ne220907DAM.asp<http://www.tehelka.com/story_main34.asp?filename=Ne220907DAM.asp>
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