Sharavathi pumped storage project cleared with conditions

Khandre said that for lion-tailed macaques to survive, the canopy has to be protected and tree felling permission cannot be given.
Sharavathi pumped storage project cleared with conditions
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BENGALURU: Despite stiff opposition from experts, conservationists, serving and retired forest department officials, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday approved an energy department’s proposal to undertake the Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project in the Jog Reserved Forest in the Lion-Tailed Macaque (LTM) Wildlife Sanctuary.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 19th State Wildlife Board Meeting held in the city, Forest, Environment and Ecology Minister Eshwar B Khandre, who is also the board member, told The New Indian Express that the project has been approved with certain conditions. After meeting the conditions, the proposal has to be sent to the National Board for Wildlife for approval. It is only after its clearance, can the work to generate 2,000 MW of power be taken up, he said.

Khandre said that for lion-tailed macaques to survive, the canopy has to be protected and tree felling permission cannot be given. They (energy department) were told to take up works underground ensuring there is limited tree felling, he added.

“We asked for a technical report on this along with the final Detailed Project Report (DPR). Though they had it, they did not share it with us immediately. They assured us that it will be shared. By going underground, the cost of the project will increase, but conservation is crucial here. We have told them to discuss it with technical experts,” Khandre said.

The project is to generate 2000 MW of power, utilising the existing Talakalale as the upper reservoir and Gerusoppa as the lower reservoir. Both the reservoirs are proposed to be connected by pipes.

An underground powerhouse cavern with eight units of 250MW reversible Francis pump turbine will be constructed between the two reservoirs and connected with tunnels. Of the 14.582ha of forest land for the project, 3.294ha will be utilised for above ground works and 11.287ha will be utilised for underground structures. The project will be executed over five years, the proposal said.

According to the recommendation made by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Wildlife, Subhash Malkhade – a copy of which is available with TNIE – instead of felling 12,000 trees of the 13,756 marked for the 12.3 km road from Nagar Basti kere to Begodi, it is ideal to go underground.

The site inspection report prepared by the forest department stated that 142.763ha of land is proposed to be utilised for the Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project, of which 54.155ha is forest land and of this 14.582ha is the LTM sanctuary.

Conservationists, serving and retired forest department officials are against the project. Along with LTM, the forest patch is home to leopards, dholes, pangolins, leopard cats, brown palm civets, slender lorises, Indian crested porcupines, Jog night frogs, king cobras and other species endemic to the Western Ghats. Interestingly, in the same meeting the Board cleared to part with 1.14ha of land to generate 600 MW of wind power.

Retired PCCF BJ Hosmath said that Sharavathi Valley has been completely damaged. Whatever little that is left will also be destroyed now. “The government is reasoning that the project is needed to meet the peak power demand.

But in the same breath, they say that the state is generating sufficient solar and wind power. It is also common sense that 125MW power is needed for pumping water upstream to store power. It is of no use in the long run. The LTM is a Schedule 1 species which is found nowhere else in the world,” he said.

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