[Reader-list] CPIM tried to distrupt the hearing at athirapilly by Assembly commitee on Environment

[Anivar Aravind]

Uproarious scenes at hearing on Athirappilly hydel project
Staff Reporter, The Hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/23/stories/2008102352290300.htm

CPI(M) MLAs in the Assembly Committee stay away from hearing

— Photo: By Special Arrangement

UP IN ARMS: CPI(M) workers trying to disrupt a hearing on the proposed
Athirappilly hydro-electric project held at Athirappilly on Wednesday.

Athirappilly (Thrissur dist): A hearing on the 163 MW Athirappilly
hydroelectric project by the Assembly Committee on Environment held at
the Panchayat Hall here on Wednesday witnessed uproarious scenes. When
the hearing began, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers
shouted slogans against groups that opposed the hydel project. The
committee recorded the opinions of a few people and obtained
information on environmental impact of the project.

The hearing was stopped later following slogan-shouting and counter
slogan-shouting between CPI(M) workers and anti-dam activists.

Rajaji Mathew Thomas, chairman of the committee, and members M.V.
Shreyams Kumar, V. D. Satheesan and Roshy Augustine, MLAs, took part.

CPI(M) MLAs in the committee B.D. Devassy, M. Hamsa, K.V. Abdul Khader
and A.M. Yusuf stayed off the hearing. Anti-dam groups alleged that
the four MLAs held a secret meeting at Chalakudy and decided not to
participate in the hearing. T.U. Kuruvila, a member of the committee,
too did not attend the hearing.

The proposed Athirappilly hydel project is the seventh dam to be built
across the 145.5-km Chalakudy river, the fifth largest in the State.
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) cleared the
project on July 18, 2007, triggering protests by environmentalists. In
1998, the Ministry had cleared the project without the mandatory
public hearing.

The Kerala High Court, on October 17, 2001, directed the Kerala State
Electricity Board and the MoEF to fulfil procedures for environmental
clearance, including a public hearing. A public hearing was held at
the Thrissur Town Hall on February 6, 2002.

The project was again cleared by the MoEF on February 10, 2005, on the
basis of a report by Water and Power Consultancy Services (India)
Limited (WAPCOS). On March 23, 2006, the Kerala High Court quashed the
clearance and ordered another public hearing.

A public hearing held at the Gopalakrishna Auditorium, Chalakudy, on
June 15, 2002, drew protests against the proposed dam. The Expert
Committee on River Valley Projects, led by P.G. Sastri, visited
Athirappilly on April 12, 2007.

The techno-economic sanction granted by the Centre expired on March
31, 2008. Three cases filed in the Kerala High Court against the
project are pending.

Environmentalists contend that the proposed project has several
disadvantages, including destruction of forest land that is home to
rare flora and fauna; ecological problems caused by submergence of the
only remaining riparian forests at such altitude in the entire Western
Ghats; damage to the vital elephant corridor between the Parambikulam
sanctuary and the Pooyamkutty forests and the Athirappilly waterfalls;
displacement of Kadar tribesmen; depletion of irrigation and drinking
water resources in 19 panchayats and two municipalities.




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