BENGALURU: Two former Supreme Court judges, Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice V Gopala Gowda, on Saturday opposed the Sharavathi pumped storage project (SPSP), proposed by the state energy department in central Western Ghats.
Justice Gowda questioned why the government was not making the Detailed Project Report (DPR) public, and how it could pose a threat to national security. The government is answerable as it is spending taxpayers’ money on the project. He said the government should take the project back, and promised to provide any legal support required.
Justice Gowda also questioned how the contracts were issued when the project licence was not yet obtained. He was speaking at a discussion ‘Understanding the Environmental Impact of SPSP, Are there Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Alternatives for Electricity Generation’, organised by Parisarakkaagi Naavu, headed by former MLA AT Ramaswamy.
Justice Hegde, who was also former Karnataka Lokayukta, said the project is not in public or environmental interest. The government, which speaks of environment protection in the cabinet and at other forums, should think of people’s future and protect the area, he said.
The project proposes to generate 2,000MW power and will be built between Talakalale and Gerusoppa dams on the Sharavathi river. The region falls in the Lion Tailed Macaque Wildlife Sanctuary, and eco-sensitive zone of the Sharavathi valley in Shivamogga. Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) will execute the project at a cost of Rs 10,240 crore.
Ramaswamy said the environmental damage will be the same in Sharavathi and Varahi, where the pumped storage projects are proposed. Environmental or forest clearance has not been obtained for the project.
Conceptualisation of the project itself is questionable. The government recently hosted the Neeriddre Nale (Water for the Future) programme, an initiative across 15 districts to address groundwater exploitation, but is destroying the Western Ghats, the source of water.
Reacting to this, MLA BR Patil said: “I am with you on this, environment protection is important. In democracy, dialogues and discussions are important. I will request the Chief Minister to take a look into this.”