Power Cos See Red As Ministry Goes Green

A power station promoter must also be a good botanist if the latest fiat of the ministry of environment (MoE) has to be obeyed.

If the ministry has its way, a power station will be judged not only by the quantum of energy it generates, but also by the number of trees it has grown at the project site.

The power company will make money not only by selling energy, but also fruit and flowers.

No new power project will be cleared by the ministry of environment unless the promoter agrees to afforest one third of the total project area. The concept of afforestation has recently been clarified by the ministry.

 

There has to be exactly 1,500 trees in each acre of the afforested area within the project boundary.

However, MoEs insistence on a specific number of trees has created a lot of confusion. There is no strict norm on the size of a project area in proportion to the size of the power plant. In India, it has varied from 0.6 acres to two acres for every megawatt of plant capacity.

Assuming that a 500 mw power plant will require an average 500 acres of plot, the number of trees needed to be planted will number exactly 2.49 lakhs. This is a very large number. The project authorities who will begin by planting 1,500 plants per acre, will have to regularly make a head count and replace the plants which may die in their infancy.

A tree plantation of this magnitude will require a separate department of agricultural scientists, botanists and florists to manage. The ministry which is so specific about the number of trees to be planted has offered no guideline to the types of trees to be planted.

Various regions of the country has different types of soil. The Gangetic plains may go for large leafy trees while dry areas will have to opt for leaner varieties.

Watering the plants in their infancy will be no mean task specially in regions where water is scare.

There is confusion over the definition of a tree. How does the ministry of environment distinguish a plant and a tree? Can flower plants be counted as trees to add variety and colour to the afforestation programme?

The power industry is scared of the possible role of the government inspectors who are expected to be regularly sent to the project sites to count the trees.

Laws are laws and a power station can be pulled up and be even issued a notice for closure if the inspector finds the number of trees even one short of the requisite number.

The power industry is not against the concept of creating a green belt in the project area. But, it is worried by the strict orders for sticking to numbers.

The success of afforestation, industry sources pleaded, should be measured by methods other than just head counting.