BENGALURU: Politicians cutting across party lines are unanimous in their support for construction of the hydroelectric-cum-drinking water project at Mekedatu. But this unity has raised eyebrows among conservationists and citizens, who are raising questions about the environmental impact assessment (EIA) study, forest land diversion project report and public consultation, before taking the project ahead.
Not just conservationists, officials from the environment and forest departments are also wondering how the government is making tall claims when papers are not moving. An environment department official said, on condition of anonymity,
“Any project of such a large magnitude needs an EIA. Also, since it is in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS), it is likely that the ministry of environment and forests will take up the EIA directly. The state Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (EIAA) would not be involved. But the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) will have to be involved for public consultation, which is a must in case of large projects, and more so when other states are involved. The detailed project report needs an EIA which has not been done so far.”
On Tuesday, as Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai discussed the issue with Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, conservationists from Kodagu said they were working on filing a case in court, as part of ‘Save Cauvery Project’.
A forest department official said no proposal had been made for land diversion, and neither was a detailed survey done. “The government is failing to realise that though it’s the same government at the Centre and state, rules have to be followed,” the official added.
The project -- which the government quoted at Rs 9,000 crore -- will submerge 5100ha of CWS land, of which 227ha is revenue land, to generate around 400MW power and 4.75tmcft water. Environment officials point out that the project will impact CWS, Bannerghatta National Park and Chamarajanagar forests, leading to more man-animal conflict, Gaganachukki-Barachukki waterfalls, Hoganekal waterfalls and the proposed Sagar Mala project also.
An official from the fisheries department said the government should learn from the mistakes of Sharavathi project, due to which salinity in the river, ponds and even ocean downstream has increased, affecting fish harvesting. Prof T V Ramachandra, from the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, said: “There is nothing like excess water, which the government is claiming to tap. It is rainwater and the run-off is the excess required for surrounding areas, downstream and for oceans. Tamil Nadu knows it will suffer...”
ALONG THE CAUVERY
98 Major and minor irrigation dams, numerous lakes in Cauvery Basin
Reservoirs in basin has live storage capacity of 297 tmcft, gross storage capacity of 329 tmcft
Karnataka has 57 dams with gross storage capacity of 157 tmcft, live storage of 133tmcft
Tamil Nadu has 37 dams with gross storage capacity of 160 tmcft, live storage of 154 tmcft
Kerala has 4 dams with gross storage of 13 tmcft, live storage of 10 tmcft