URGENT: Save Silent Valley
National Park from dam project
plz distribute this widely and respond- Anivar
Attention: Urgent Immediate Action Requested


Rejected Silent Valley Hydro Electric Project Revived in the New Form of Pathrakadavu
HEP?
Bharathapuzha River cannot afford any more dams.



 The
worldwide struggle to save the pristine
Silent Valley Forests of the Southern Western Ghats is still fresh in the
memory
of all concerned. The Silent Valley forests threatened by the controversial
Silent Valley HEP in the late 1970s gained worldwide attention due to its ecological, biological, geographical and evolutionary significance and
uniqueness. The Silent Valley HEP was later abandoned thanks to world wide campaigns and appeals to protect and preserve it as an international natural
heritage site that later led to the declaration of the 89 sq.km area of the Silent Valley as a National Park in 1984.Later it was included as core area of
the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, part of the Western Ghats which is one of the biological hotspots of the world. Inspite of twenty years of constant efforts
towards conservation of the Silent Valley National Park and its buffer areas
by the Government of Kerala and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the
Silent Valley HEP has been revived in the form of proposed Pathrakadavu HEP.
The new dam site is just 3.5 km downstream of the old dam site at Sairandhri
and 500 m below the National Park boundary.



 The Issue

The 64.5 m high and 275 m long large dam, with 70 MW installed capacity is planned across the Kunti River originating from Silent
Valley, just outside the border of the National Park across a “V” shaped
gorge on the highly steep southern slope below Nilikkal where the river flows down rapidly towards the Mannarkkad plains. The forest loss due to the project
is claimed to be just 22.16 ha by the EIA study team apart from the land to be
acquired for powerhouse in human settlement area in Karapadam. The 84-sq.km
catchment of the project area includes 79 sq.km of the Silent Valley National Park as per the EIA. The Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment for the Project
was carried out during January to May 2003 by Thiruvananthapuram based Environmental Resources Research Centre and the report was tabled in December
2003.The project cost is estimated to be Rs.247.06 crores (1999 estimates).
The Public Hearing of the proposed Pathrakadavu
Hydro Electric Project (70 MW) based on the Rapid EIA by Environmental
Resources Research Center, based in Trivandrum is slated on the 21st May
2004 at Mannarkkad. 
Reject the revised Silent Valley Hydro Electric
Project for the following reasons:


Death of Bharathapuzha River:




Proposed
HEP will severely reduce stream flow in Kunti, the only remaining perennial tributary of Bharathapuzha River, nailing the
final coffin on the dying River.
All
other tributaries already dammed and diverted for irrigation through 11 dams in the 6186-sq.km catchment area of 
209 km long Bharathapuzha River.
Kunti
flows only due to continuous efforts towards conservation of Silent Valley National Park.
The
recurring severe drought in Palakkad, a testimony to the state of Bharathapuzha, which flows through this district.
Downstream
population depends on Kunti for domestic, drinking water and irrigation purposes.



Survival
of Silent Valley at stake:

Dam
site proposed in the southwest buffer zone of the National Park (the Thenkara Range of the Mannarkkad Forest
Division)
The
survival of Silent Valley rain forests -one of the most beautiful and pristine wild communities in the world-is
supported by the natural protection provided by steep scarps of Mannarkkad and
Nilambur Forest Divisions of Kerala in the south west and north, the
Attappady Reserve Forest in the east and the heavily forested ridges
of the Nilgiris in the north east-the buffer areas.
Buffer
areas around the Park already under severe stress due to forest fires, encroachments and plantations. Dam would
prove disastrous to the very survival of the Silent Valley National Park.
Crores
of rupees already spent for conservation and research studies in the National Park will go waste.


Irreparable
damage through easy access:


·    The 1100 odd work force at dam site, powerhouse site, dam site
colony, construction of approach road to dam site etc. throughout construction
phase will open inroads into Silent Valley National Park.
·     Workforce intrusion through poaching, illegal tree felling,
forest fires, quarrying, noise, air and water pollution to increase due to easy
access.
·       Nilikkal area cited as highly active wild life area in several
studies-The Nilgiri langur, the Lion tailed macaque, the Nilgiri thar all endangered species frequently cited here very close to dam site.

The
best option if KSEB should remain a public sector unit:


·     The
cost of power from the proposed project to reach Rs.6-8 per unit.
·       Kerala State Electricity Board even unable to purchase power at
Rs.4per unit from already commissioned Thermal Power Stations in the State.
·      The Board already reeling under severe financial liability of
Rs.5200 crores, out of which debt servicing alone for 2003-04 is Rs.1600
crores.
·      Annual loss from transmission and distribution alone amounts to
380 crore units on an average (30 % of production).
·      So who will fund the proposed HEP whose investment
will reach Rs. 500 crores plus at the current rate? Who will take the burden
of liability?
·   
Is not reducing T&D losses the best option than investing in huge dams?

Projected
power generation based on inaccurate data base


·    
Incorrect basis of calculation of stream flow of the Kunti
River.
·   Report of the Joint Committee set up by Government of India and
Kerala in 1982 for Silent Valley estimated annual run off yield of Kunti River
as 293 mcum- the rapid EIA in 2003 puts the same at 498.25 mcum (based on 5007
mm annual rainfall).
· 
Even if entire rainwater of 84 sq.km of catchment area of
project drains through the river, the maximum run-off expected is 420 Mm3
only.
·  
In reality actual stream flow will be much below this as decided by rainfall, vegetation, topography and watershed peculiarities of
river and seasonal variations.
·  
The quality of database decides technical feasibility of a river valley project. Most rivers in Kerala lack accurate hydrological database.
Hence KSEB is projecting highly over estimated power benefits from the project to
the people.
6.      Biased EIA agency:
·       EIA recommends the project inspite of more negative impacts than
positive in the document!
·       The EIA silent about the extent of land and forest acquisition
for the high-tension power lines and the actual forest lost and displacement is
downsized.
There is little time left for us to save the Silent Valley for posterity and Bharathapuzha from further destruction and death.
So,
please prepare and send your memorandums to the below addresses immediately based
on the write up above. You can also help the cause by circulating the same
among
other concerned groups. The Kerala State Pollution Control Board is the Agency
for conducting Public Hearing.
Sri.Sudhir Babu,
Environmental Engineer,
Kerala State Pollution Control Board,
Pattom.P.O
Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala.
Telegram:CLEANWATER
Fax: 0471-2318152



Please send the copy of the above memorandum to us by email at  chalakudyriver@rediffmail.com
not later than May 20th morning positively so that we can deliver the same to the Public Hearing Panel on the 21st May in person.


The Secretary,
MoEF, Parayavaran Bhavan,
CGO Complex,
Lodhi Road,
New Delhi-110003
Email-
 secy@menf.delhi.nic.in
This Document is prepared by
Chalakudy Puzha Samrakshana Samithi
Karthika, Manalattil
Ollur.P.O
Thrissur, Kerala, South India 680306
Ph: 0487 2353021