IDUKKI: Controversies continue to dog hydro-electric power projects in Kerala. After the decades-old Edamalayar hydel project scam led to former minister and senior politician R Balakrishna Pillai getting jailed for a year, it was the turn of SNC-Lavalin’s Kerala ventures to cast a long shadow over CPM party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
And now, the 3-MW mini-hydel project at Iruttukanam near Adimaly in Idukki district, erected on a build-ownoperate- transfer’ (BOOT) basis at a cost of over Rs 20 crore, seems to have started leaking just a couple of months after getting commissioned on December 16, 2010. The project, executed by Karthika Power Projects Pvt Ltd for Viyyat Power (P) Ltd, has the mandate to run the dam for 30 years and sell the power generated from the project to Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).
This reporter who visited the dam site found that there were still signs of water seeping through the dam walls though heavy grouting was carried out to stop the leakage just a few days back.
When contacted V R Pradeep of Chattuparakara, a sub contractor for the Iruttukanam project, admitted that the construction work that he carried out was not according to the parameters of the DPR submitted to the state power department and the Energy Management Centre, an autonomous centre under the Department of Power, Kerala, that oversaw the execution of the project.
“Much deviation has taken place from the approved DPR. No proper foundation or concreting has been done to strengthen the dam. While it is stipulated that the penstock should not be covered with sand, the owners have covered it. The authorities should inspect the dam and ask the builders to take corrective measures immediately.
If the dam is allowed in its present form, it will last only a few years. What is more, during monsoons the dam will not be able to withstand the water pressure,” he alleged.
Local residents too voiced apprehensions about the dam. “There has been strong opposition to the project from the local residents right from the beginning.
Around 50 houses near the site developed cracks as a tunnel was bored on the rock for laying the penstock.
Though the residents staged a dharna on February 19,2010, the company managed to amicably settle the issue by paying heavy compensation to the residents. A safety audit of the dam should be done immediately,” said a resident who wished not to be named.
However, Karthika Power Projects Pvt Ltd Managing Director H Ramanathan said that, though a slight deviation was made from the DPR, the dam was constructed as per mandatory guidelines.
“The sub-contractor is unnecessarily raking up a controversy to demand more money. We have satisfied the required parameters to ensure the safety of the dam,” Ramanathan said. Viyyat Power (P) Ltd Managing Director P D Nair echoed this sentiment, saying the dam was constructed by following all mandatory requirements.
“Grouting is being done regularly to strengthen the structure. The dam has been approved by an expert team from IIT Roorkee. The Union Government and the state government have also given their approval to the structure constructed for the dam,” he said. Energy Management Centre director K M Dhareshan Unnithan too endorsed this view.
“The project is a major development in the state. It is for the first time that a private investor has come forward to invest in the state’s power sector. If the government receives any formal complaint, the KSEB or the appropriate body can look into the allegations,” he said.
The KSEB had already signed a power purchasing agreement with Viyyat Power.
T he company would sell power at a rate of `2.40 per unit for a period of 30 years and thereafter hand over the control of the hydel project to the government.