Thiruvananthapuram, Friday, July 30, 2010: The explanation given by the Kerala State Electricity Board on the Athirapally Hydro electric project is satisfactory, says The Union ministry for environment and forests. However, final decision would be taken by the 18th of next month.

Kerala State Electricity Board had given explanation on subjects like biodiversity, forest acts, flow of the river etc. The water availability report submitted by KSEB would be probed upon by the Central Water Authority.

Earlier Report

Union Minister of Forests and Environment Jairam Ramesh had earlier reiterated that, the centre would not give consent to the Athirappally power project, based on the reports given by Bio diversity board and forest department. Athirapally is another Silent Valley, rich in biodiversity, which needs to be protected.

The Minister had earlier said, the project was withheld not because of political compulsions or conspiracy.

The Kerala State Electricity Board had proposed a power project at Athirapally waterfalls and the move had invited protests from environmentalists.

The proposed Athirapally hydroelectric project across the Chalakkudi River in Thrissur district of Kerala met the fate of the erstwhile Silent Valley Power Project after the Union Government struck to its idea of revoking project approval.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in a show-cause notice dated January 4, 2010, asked the State Government why the clearance accorded earlier to the project should not be revoked. The Union Government on July 19, 2007, cleared the Kerala State Electricity Board’s proposal to build a 163-mw dam, which had invited massive protest from various corners accusing the Ministry of sounding the death knell of a unique biodiversity.

The idea of a hydro-electric project across Chalakkudi River dates back to the 1980s. The first time the project proposal got the clearance from the MoEF was in 1998. After a series of PILs in court, the project went into limbo but in 2005 it was revived when it received environmental clearance on the basis of an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) by WAPCOS (Water and Power Consultancy Services (India) Ltd).

The Kerala High Court then intervened and quashed this clearance and asked the KSEB to apply for a fresh EIA. In 2007 the project received clearance for the third time from the MoEF.