SHIVAMOGGA: Twenty year after its conception, Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project (SPSP), aimed to make Karnataka energy independent, is nowhere near the finish line. The project is facing stiff opposition from environmentalists since the proposed site is in the Sharavathi wildlife Sanctuary.
The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) is yet to give its crucial clearance for the project. The National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) had given its in principle nod in June 2025. A final clearance is awaited.
Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) which is handling the project could get the clearance from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) only on September 9, 2024, after scrutiny of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) by 13 various directorates of departments of the Centre. All this exposes the systemic paralysis.
While conceiving the SPSP project in 2006, the KPCL was aiming for 800 MW. In 2009, it recalibrated that goal to 900 MW. In 2017, the state government again pushed the goalpost—enhancing the power generation capacity to 2,000 MW.
In the state budget for 2024-25, the government said that it would enhance overall power generation from existing 32,000 MW to 60,000 MW. And the SPSP is crucial to achieve this goal.
The capacity of existing hydel power stations is limited--Linganamakki Power Generation (55MW), Mahatma Gandhi Power Generation Unit (139.2 MW), Sharavathi Power Generation Unit (1,035 MW) and Gerusoppa Power Generation Unit (240 MW) only adds up to 1,469 MW. This is what makes Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project vital for the state’s needs.
Pumped Storage Projects can be suitable in ghat area and requires two reservoirs—one at the lower and another at upper level.Through the canal these two reservoirs will be connected for the flow of water through reversible pump turbines. Water will be reused and requires a minimum quantity of water to generate power.
The SPSP can use the Talakalale dam as upper reservoir and the Gerusoppa dam as lower reservoir to generate clean energy to meet the growing power needs of the state.
Nearly 16,041 are going to be axed as part of the implementation of the SPSP, including Sagar division (745), Shivamogga Wildlife Division (1,518) and Honnavar division (13,756).
Projects of the scale of the SPSP, inevitably, attract opposition. Various organisations Sharavathi Kanive Ulilsit Horata Samiti of Honnavara and Sagar; Parisarakkagi Navu, Bengaluru, Paryavarana Trust and many local organisations have been mobilising people to oppose this project.
Opposition also comes from Shivamogga and Uttara Kannada including seers of various mutts, wildlife conservationists and environmentalists. These organisations have staged protests in Bengaluru, Shivamogga, Honnavara, Sagar, North Canara district headquarters. Recently, there was a meeting of KPCL authorities with the environmentalists and other representatives, including former Deputy Chief Minister KS Eshwarappa, held in Shivamogga.
“We are not against the pumped storage project as a technology. We oppose because it is being established in the Sharavathi wildlife Sanctuary. This wildlife sanctuary is declared in 1972 Lion-tailed Macaque(LTM) Wildlife Conservation Area”, said Prof BM Kumaraswamy, an environmentalist. As per The Wildlife Conservation Act 1972, no project is to be established in wildlife sanctuary area that would disturb the wildlife. Even to move around in this area for the people, they have to take prior permission from the Forest department. If they do so, they would be put behind bars. Was the Karnataka government and the forest department not aware of this stringent act, asks Kumaraswamy.