In a first, the state scraps under-construction mini hydel projects for violating green laws
Two months, assured by the Karnataka government that no new hydel project would be permitted in the Western Ghats region, the high court allowed the forest department to reevaluate two projects that were already under construction. On 16 April, the state set an example by cancelling the land leases granted to Maruthi Power- Gen four years after the company secured stage-II environmental clearance for its two projects in Hassan district.
Earlier, as reported by TEHELKA (Mini Projects, Mega Disaster, 30 October 2012), the forest department had been suppressing its internal reports against Maruthi’s mini hydel projects that misrepresented facts and twisted laws to bag green clearances for its Hongadalla (4.18 hectares, 18.90 MW) and Yedakumeri (4.20 hectares, 19 MW) projects.
While projects need forest and wildlife clearances from the Centre, there are a few catches. If the forestland requirement is less than 5 hectares, it can be cleared at the state level. Similarly, hydel projects below 25 MW capacity can be given environmental clearance by the regional office of the green ministry. To exploit these loopholes, Maruthi split its projects into two ‘mini’ adjacent units with a common powerhouse and excluded the land required for paving access roads in order to keep the total forestland requirement under 5 hectares.
Next, the company made Hassan’s then Deputy Conservator of Forests recommend the projects for clearance, citing that there were no rare, endangered or unique species of flora and fauna in Kagneri and Kanchanakumari reserved forests, which are home to tigers, elephants, leopards among other endangered species, including Gundia Indian Frog endemic to the Western Ghats.
Work continued on the projects until November 2011 when a Forest Range Officer reported 13 counts of violations. Three months later, the HC stopped work after an inquiry by top forest officials confirmed a slew of irregularities.
In March 2012, the vigilance wing of the forest department pointed out further violations such as encroachment on forestland, construction of bridges and roads without clearance, and blocking of natural streams with debris. Strangely, the state government counsel backed Maruthi, arguing that use of forest roads did not require any clearance.
Subsequently, the forest department made two more attempts to exclude the forest road from the net requirement for forestland. Given the state’s bizarre stand that development and use of existing coupe roads or digging tunnels inside forests did not require clearances, the case was now being watched by many even outside the state.
Under pressure, Karnataka finally conceded on 20 February 2013 that Maruthi violated several conditions of the lease and a fresh proposal for the projects would have to be considered. The HC asked the state to “pass appropriate orders in accordance with law within four weeks from the date of receipt” of a fresh proposal from Maruthi.
The ban on mini hydel projects and the cancellation of Maruthi’s leases at an advanced stage is significant because the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd allotted 72 mini hydel projects when the controversial 2×200 MW Gundia hydel project was conceived.
While the Madhav Gadgil panel, which was constituted to conserve the Western Ghats, decided against the viability of the Gundia hydel project, which will submerge 754 hectares of thick evergreen forests in a critical elephant habitat, the K Kasturirangan review panel merely sought a reevaluation of the project. Also, unlike Gadgil, Kasturirangan did not rule out future hydel projects in the Ecologically Sensitive Areas of the Western Ghats. Karnataka’s decision against new hydel projects in its stretch of the Western Ghats may set the benchmark for other states.
By cancelling Maruthi’s leases at an advanced stage, the state also went against the accepted practice of considering a project, however faulty, a fait accompli once substantial investment has been made on the ground. Will this have any bearing on the fate of mega projects, such as the Subansiri Lower on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, which are stuck halfway? Or will their sheer scale pull them
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