The Athirappilly hydropower project stands at the risk of being disqualified by the Kasturirangan Committee. Sunita Narain, member of the Kasturirangan panel and Director-General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), told ‘Express’ here on Wednesday that if the Athirapilly project is implemented in its current status, it will be a very shortsighted move on part of the state government.
Terming it an “ecological disaster if gets implemented”, she said the project did not qualify the terms and conditions set for approval by the Kasturirangan Committee. The Kasturirangan Committee, appointed by the Centre to review the Madhav Gadgil panel report on Western Ghats, had suggested stricter rules for dam construction and sanction of hydroelectric projects in Western Ghats.
The High Level Working Group of the Kasturirangan Committee mandates “uninterrupted” 30 per cent ecological flow in Western Ghats before giving sanction to future hydroelectric projects.
Compliance with this condition will require rigorous and seasonal data collection to prepare a hydrological mapping of the basin.
It also notes that hydropower projects must be considered only after a cumulative impact assessment on the flow pattern of the rivers and forest and biodiversity loss.
According to the Kasturirangan Committee report, the minimum distance between projects must be maintained at 3 km and not more than 50 per cent of the river basin should be affected at any time. The future of Athirapilly project is uncertain with these mandates set by the committee. Sunita’s statement makes it clear that under the present circumstances, the project might never see the light of the day.
“Any future proposals for Athirappilly will have to take into account the very clear and mandatory terms suggested by the Kasthurirangan panel,” she said.
The KSEB also came under the criticism of Sunita Narain. She said the KSEB did not present a conclusive evidence to take into account the issue of ecological flow in the Athirappilly case.