Power plant snapped before start

The Karnataka Udyog Mitra (KUM), a state government organisation, made it clear on June 6 that the Rs 4,800 crore proposal is deferred.

Responding to an application under the Right to Information Act, it has informed Bangalore-based Environment Support Group (ESG) Coordinator Leo F.Saldanha that, "the State High Level Clearance Committee (SHLCC) took note of the agitations of the farmers, activists of progressive organizations, intellectuals against the project on environmental issues and decided to defer a decision on the proposal." The chief minister heads the SHLCC.

 

In a related development, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) has written to the ESG that it has not proceeded further with land acquisition, as it has not received any communication from the Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. (KPCL), the nodal agency for project implementation, to pursue the land acquisition, which it had sought in August 2007.

These developments follow an order on May 19 last by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) after hearing a petition made by Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) in November 2007, raising objections to the project.

During the public hearings, the proposal had met with stiff resistance by the local people, environmental and social action groups, of whom some had held protests and demonstrations in Mysore articulating their concerns over the damage to environment and other areas. The KERC had also inspected the project-site, amidst stiff resistance.

Besides the Mysore-based petitioner, social and environmental groups, leading personalities like Jnanpeeth awardee U R Anantha Murthy, Mysore MP C H Vijayashankar, Rytha Sangha leader K S Puttannaiah, N S Chakravarthy, energy expert Shankar Sharma, MGPs Vombatkere, SKS's Vivek Cariappa and Juli Cariappa, ACICM's Lakshman, Saldanha and others had strongly opposed the project.

They had raised issues concerning environmental and social impact of the thermal project, because of its closeness to the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, the heritage city of Mysore, nearby villages and agricultural lands, water usage from the Cauvery river, possibilities of alternative energy sources, and energy conservation.

The KERC concluded in its order that, "the bidding process initiated by KPCL lacks transparency and the whole process is carried out in a very casual manner. If it had been done following the guidelines of the Government of India, so much of controversy would not have been generated."

Discharging its functions under Section 86 (2) (iv) of the Electricity Act 2003, KERC passed a 45-page order on May 19, making four recommendations to the State Government.

They are to take a de-novo decision for establishing a thermal power plant at Chamalapura after considering questions of water supply, fuel linkage, displacement ensuing from land acquisition, environmental and heritage impacts, and direct the KPCL to strictly comply with the bidding guidelines issued by the MoP. To set up an expert committee for a detailed study of the desirability or otherwise of establishing thermal power plants in Karnataka is the other recommendation.

Welcoming the KERC order, Savayava Krishikara Sangha President Vivek Cariappa and Juli Cariappa have reiterated their demand scrapping the thermal power station at Chamalapura.