THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress state president V M Sudheeran has shot off a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan terming the move by the LDF Government to revive the Athirappilly hydroelectric project which had already been rejected by the people.
He recalled that whenever a new government comes to power, there has been a mysterious move from certain quarters to revive the Athirappilly project.
In the letter, Sudheeran recalled that various scientific-technical-environmental-social impact studies had ruled out the power project. He highlighted 10 factors which would be affected if the Athirappilly project is implemented.
“There is dearth of adequate water for this project, the targeted power cannot be produced, the cost towards the power production is high, the water level availability in the drinking sector and irrigation in the Chalakkudy area will be affected, 14,000-hectare irrigation facility will be lost, the drinking water availability in 20-odd local bodies will be affected, the tribal communities’ lives and the environment will be grossly affected, rare flora and fauna’s survival will be at stake and also the water streaming towards Athirappilly and Vazhachal will be affected,” said Sudheeran.