HONNAVAR (UTTARA KANNADA) : Any large-scale development project in India is bound to run into opposition these days, given its perceived environmental implications and heightened awareness among people about ecological consequences. Sharavathi Pumped Storage Hydro Electricity Project at Linganamakki in Shivamogga and Uttara Kannada is a case in point.
Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) is determined to go ahead with the proposed 2,000 MW project, touted as the largest pumped storage project in the country. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has given the project its nod. The KPCL says that damage to the forest area will be limited. But locals are up in arms against the project.
Organisations such as Nimma Sharavathi (Nadi Kanive) Ulisi Horata Samithi and others have launched awareness programmes against the proposed project. “We need to save the Sharavathi river and the evergreen forest patch of Sharavathi valley. To secure future generations from landslides, we should explore alternative energy sources and ensure sustainable development,” the Samithi said.
Ecologists have raised their concerns. Citing his decades-long study, Dr Amit Hegde, a senior research fellow working in the Centre for Wildlife Studies, appealed to the authorities to reconsider the proposed project. “We have the luxury to relocate and rebuild. Amphibians and reptiles do not. Development must never come at the cost of unique habitats.
We cannot create another Western Ghats—we must, at the very least, draw a line. I urge the authorities to reconsider the project and prioritise the long-term conservation of the Sharavathi Valley’s unique herpetofauna for future generations,” says Hegde.
“Our surveys have documented the remarkable and high endemic diversity of amphibians and reptiles in the Sharavathi River basin. The Western Ghats is one of the world’s eight hottest biodiversity hotspots. The Sharavathi Valley represents one of its most intact lowland-to-highland riverine systems,” he says.
HN Kumara, Principal Scientist, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, says the proposed project will cut through the Lion Tailed Macaque (LTM) sanctuary sanctuary.
“The Sharavathi has already divided the LTM population. In the south of the Sharavathi, the LTM population has already been affected due to the earlier dam and the human settlements. Now with this project coming up the entire LTM population will be further fragmented,” he says.
The KPCL, however, says it has re-worked its plan to construct the pumped storage hydel power station to minimize the loss of forest area. “Only 150 acres of forests will be lost. Approximately 15,000 trees will be felled, not 1 lakh trees,” said an official familiar with the power sector.
The project is within the Sharavathy LTM Wildlife Sanctuary, but has been prepared in such a way that the majority of the project components are completely underground–using existing dams and the powerhouse complex. There is no creation of islands in the forest (no breaking of forest and no tree will be felled above these components) except 20.28 hectares at the portal entrance of tunnel, says the KPCL.
Hegde points out that the region is host to precious species such as Micrixalus kottigeharensis (dancing frog), Nyctibatrachus jog (a night-time frog), Indirana gundia (a critically endangered frog) and day geckos. These species depend on forest streams, Myristica swamp forests and lateritic plateaus, added Hegde.
The pumped storage project has received in-principle approval from the National Board for Wildlife on June 26, --not a wildlife clearance-- but this signals wildlife clearance is certain. The Forest Advisory Committee met on July 30 to review the project. But resistance is on.
Concerned citizens have submitted a 27-page note raising objections on key grounds such as: rejection by the Deputy Inspector General of Forests after site inspection, citing disproportionate ecological fallout, ignoring viable alternatives in location and technology, despite legal mandate, deliberate project segmentation to evade cumulative impact assessment, violating Supreme Court orders, high landslide and geological instability risk, severe biodiversity impacts- habitat fragmentation for LTM.